MovieChat Forums > Salt of the Earth (1954) Discussion > the professional cast

the professional cast

posted 17 years ago by jstever
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David Wolfe -last film, blacklisted?
David Sarvis -only credit? perhaps a blacklisted stage actor?
Mervin Williams -last film, blacklisted? appeared in an off-broadway production from dec. 1955 - feb. 1956
Rosaura Revueltas - her bio is a bit fuzzy but seems she had a decent theatrical career after she was blacklisted

and ...drumroll please... Will Geer aka Grandpa Zeb Walton as the Sherriff. I had to look it up, but I knew he looked familiar. Now I remember being about 6 and being lectured by the church ladies about watching good family television, "like The Waltons." Even at that age i thought it was corny and would find my way to those heathens at nickelodeon. I guess those church ladies were right about The Waltons being good family television. If they had known that Grandpa was both gay and a radical political activist they would have had heart attacks. Strange trivia tidbit: in Germany his character's name was changed to Sam Walton. Sam Walton was of course the founder of Wal-Mart, every radical's favorite big box retailer.

A decent film. Frankly,I was expecting a whole lot worse. Compared to contemporaries like Lassie it's certainly respectable. I know it was blacklisted for being a "subversive communist plot," but I'm sure the stodgy old men on the HUAC would be really thrilled about their wives back home getting any ideas from it. Decent movie, incredible historical document. In a hundred years, an archivist is going to think the production date is a typo, "'64 maybe, but '54?" This one is going on my hard drive.

[–] jstever 17 years ago

I missed two very important members of the production team.
The director Herbert Biberman is actually more famous for his refusal to testify before the HUAC than his films.
Writer Michael Wilson also posthumously received an Oscar for writing Bridge On the River Kwai and credits on several big name films. Check his imdb bio.

I said it in another thread. Salt of the Earth could have been 5 minutes of chatter about a baseball game and it still would have been amazing.