An essay on the making of the film, by one of the actors:

My grandmother, Virginia Derr Jencks Chambers (Ruth Barnes), who died in 1991, wrote this in the 1980's (I think). The typo's are hers, by the way, as she typed it on a manual typewriter. This may answer some of the questions by some of the posted discussions. I am open to PM's if anyone has additional questions.

"Salt of the Earth grew out of an explosive mixture: Mexican-American nationalism, working class consciousness, cultural workers of middle-class intelligentsia who refused to be relegated to decay and who wanted to give film goers a radical view of life and, finally, a blacklisted union thrown out of the CIO, besieged by the U.S. government which willingly did the work for the great metal mining giants of this country. SALT grew out of anti-communist hysteria in Washington and the militancy of a section of the American working class. It was conceived in 1950, filmed in 1953, shown a year or two later and has been blacklisted with the U.S. commercial film market ever since.

Herbert Biberman, one of the Hollywood Ten who had spent a year in prison, as well as Paul Jarrico and Michael Wilson, two blacklisted writers, after meeting members of the Local 890, Int’l Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, located in Bayard, New Mexico, talked to other black and graylisted artists in Hollywood about making such a picture. Their goals were:

1. Put to work those among them who were unable to work because of political views and/or accusations.
2. Make a contribution to a culture of reality and hope, counteracting the deluge of *beep* coming from Hollywood at this time.
3. Show political identification and sympathy between the working class and intellectuals of the left.
4. Demonstrate to the powerful Hollywood movie makers that the Left-Liberal artists had unity, a degree of power, and were not helpless in the face of the terror waged against the Left in the U.S.

After approaching Local 890 leadership they went to Denver to talk with Mine’s top people. IUMM&SW at that time was still a very powerful organization, still with locals in Canada, fraternal ties in Mexico. It had been expelled from the CIO in 1947 (?) as communist-dominated and the even more powerful union, the Steelworkers, which in the early 30’s had been organized itself by Communists, awarded itself the jurisdiction of Mine-Mill’s 130,000 members. This led to the end of this historic union, a union which grew out of the Western Federation of Miners. By 1965 (date?) all of Mine-Mill was in Steel; however, before the pact was signed Mine-Mill was able to win a number of concessions for its locals and its staff—so while wounded almost to death, there remained enough power to exert pressure after almost 15 years of facing the government in the form of arrests, “fellow” raiding unions, and the strength of companies such as Kennecott, Phelps-Dodge, American Smelting and Refining, Anaconda, U.S. Refining and Smelting, etc.

In the hope that the film might help and could do no harm the officers agreed in 1952; the event to be documented through a semi-fictional story was a strike by one unit of Local 890, an amalgamated local, against Empire Zinc. The unit was less than 200 people against a small piece of a huge cartel represented by John Foster Dulles, an attorney for the cartel. The strike started in October 1950 for parity in the district; in June, the woman, almost all Mexican-American, took over the picketlines after a local court gave the company an induction. Waves of arrests and violence follows: the press of the company followed the strike and the valiance of the women won much support through-out the country. A tiny strike caused the NY Times to send a reporter to Silver City, New Mexico ----.

Mike Wilson, one of Hollywood’s top talents but then blacklisted, came to the picketlines in November, 1951. He stayed around for some weeks, just observing, departed, and returned six weeks later with what became essentially the SALT script. However, upon the return, a group of union men and women gathered in a tiny living room and upon Mike’s request read and criticized the script, suggesting some significant changes. The changes were made, in the next year. Later the film crew arrived in Silver City and set up, warmly welcomed by business people, aware of the dollar potential. There is no question that the community was puzzled by why a Hollywood group had come to make a picture for that communist-union bunch in their midst, which had such a radical history. But pride and money won and for about one month the townspeople could not do enough for the crew.

But within less than a month the situation changed. Victor Riezdl (spel?) a venomous, anti-union, anti-“red” syndicated colunnist, ran an article attacking the film makers and Mine-Mill and the continuing strike within Local 890. It was picked up by Walter Pidgeon and John Wayne, members and officers of a crypto-facist “artists” organization, AWARE, which then demanded that the House Committee on UnAmerican activities pillory those associated with the film. AWARE was the response of the Hollywood right wing to opportunities afforded by McCarthyism and HUAC. Many people lost their livelihoods through the attempts of AWARE.

At this point a cresendo of hate was launched from Washington, D.C., through the HUAC and the press. The Catholic church in spot radio announcements told its followers they would be excommunicated if they persisted in helping make the film. The local vigilantes started a series of violent attacks on the union families and film people, beatings and smashing of equipment. The vigilantes were mostly businessmen, some foremen and company people, and ranchers, and they were assisted by the Silver City Press and El Paso Times (150 miles away) both carrying editorials and huge headlines calling for the reds to be run out of the Silver City area. There was an attempt to burn the union hall, a successful effort to burn the home of one 890 member, an Anglo, especially hated. The phone calls to the Jencks home, hate-filled and anonymous, came at all hours. In increasing cresendo of hate and violence until the New Mexico governor sent in state police to quell the storm.

Rosaura Revueltas, the star or SALT and Mexico’s leading actress who was flown from Mexico City to Juarez, crossing the border by bus at El Paso to work in the film, was pre-emptorily picked up in the midst of making SALT, hussled back to El Paso, locked up, and deported within a few hours for having crossed the border illegally – despite the fact that her papers were in order. This made innumerable problems in completing the picture – but all were solved by patching and planning.

The tension held constant for about two weeks but soon after that a few friendly small businessmen, two sympathetic priests and the head of the Highway Patrol – who had grown up in SC [Silver City] and was a very unusual Anglo because he truly like the Mexican people -- all these met with the film people and union leaders and said the situation was out of hand – that the crew must finally leave or lives would be lost. By then the local radio station had public announcements on the half hour on quotes from HUAC re Mine Mill etc., along with the threat of excommunication from El Paso. The Press daily called for violence. The entire scene was one of great terror. It became impossible to buy gasoline at stations, food for necessities. The union leadership and the Hollywood people were outcasts in a small area where everyone knew each other. Soon after the warning and demand – because those sympathetic felt that they could not hold back the flood – the film crew and actors left in small convoys at night, silent and unannounced, fearful of the black unoccupied roads before them. And the union people were left alone to do what they could. Even so, no one – then – among the hundreds who had given time and help in making the picture and any regrets. They did not get to see the fruit of the labor until almost two years later when cars drove into a local drive-in, the only place that would show it, and union people communicated their emotions over scenes in the movie by blowing their car horns! Two families from the Hollywood area joined in the celebration: a gripsman and a carpenter.

After the crew left another event too place: within a few weeks Jencks was arrested by the FBI, barefoot, playing ball with his children at the dinner hour. The charge was perjury of the noncommunist affidavit of the Taft-Hartley law, $10,000 bond, put up some hours later by IUMM&SW out of Denver, its headquarters.

The situation became untenable for either working or living and so early in June, 1952, Jencks together with his family was transferred to Denver to service mountainous locals in that area and to prepare for trial. From public records of the Health, Education and Welfare Committee of February, 1952 it became obvious why the arrest had been made; for in that time the public relations representative for Empire Zinc had appeared before a subcommittee on labor and demand that the communists making the movie, agitating in Grant County, New Mexico, be stopped. He was specific about Jencks, as well as a few others. Approximately two weeks later his wishes were met. The film crew was disbanded and Jencks had been arrested – a few days before the statute of limitations on his Taft-Hartley affidavit would have expired.

Because there was an agreement and conspiracy between the film industrialists, especially that great anti-communist Howard Hughes, the U.S. Dept of Justice and FBI and HUAC and Senate Sub-Committee on Interal Affairs (the McCarran Committee), along with the Motion Picture Film Operators Union – one of the most corrupt and degenerate company unions this nation has ever seen – the makers of SALT and unbelievable difficulty in getting the film printed, spliced and edited. Pieces of the work were farmed out to a score of print labs all over the LA area and editors were asked to do what they could at night with these bits and pieces. It took almost a year to get one print.

Finally, there was a big movie-type preview in NYC, which cost the desperate filmmakers a lot of money they no longer had. Juan Chacon and Henrietta Williams were guests, coming from Bayard. TIME magazine, the Nation and a few other publications gave favorable reviews but the political climate was such in 1953-54 that professional people were afraid to come too close; in addition, it soon became impossible to see the picture. Between the film projector’s boycott, and that of the distributors who would threaten a theatre owner that he would get no more movies if he tried to show SALT. The cooperation of the FNI was almost superfluous in getting rid of SALT. On occasions there was a tiny art of film house where the owner ran the project and was not dependant on Hollywood films (Paramount, Fox, MGM, Warners, etc.) the FBI would make its warning visit.

This blackout continued until the early 60’s, approximately ten years, although SALT had been acclaimed abroad, winning honors in France and Scotland, being dubbed into other languages, including Chinese. However, it took the student movement, the fightback against HUAC in SF [San Francisco] and Berkeley, the rising women’s movement, Viet Nam, La Raza, Black Panthers – all, all the great human movements associated in the United States with the 60’s to bring SALT to life in America. It served many aspects of these movements: class, national oppression, women, minorities, revolution – and best of all, humankind through love, a demonstration of the best in all of us.

With all its flaws – and they are there – SALT turned out to be far more meaningful than its creators could ever have hoped.

Almost universal in its appeal, creation of disparate forces, this film will continue to make a statement to and about out country for years to come."