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Movie
Poster for Salt of the Earth

Salt of the Earth

1954 · 94 min

A stark, earnest slice of working-class life that moves slowly but lands with quiet moral force.

Tagline
At last, an honest movie about American working people
Overview
At New Mexico's Empire Zinc mine, Mexican-American workers protest the unsafe work conditions and unequal wages compared to their Anglo counterparts. Ramon Quintero helps organize the strike, but he is shown to be a hypocrite by treating his pregnant wife, Esperanza, with a similar unfairness. When an injunction stops the men from protesting, however, the gender roles are reversed, and women find themselves on the picket lines while the men stay at home.

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • earneststrength 3 of 3
  • bleakstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • warmstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • class
  • justice
  • gender
  • family
  • power
Places
  • small town
  • workplace
  • home
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror1
Humour2
Realism9
Romance3
Tension6
Darkness6
Complexity6
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

Stream
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Free
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  • YouTube Free
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Rent or buy
  • Amazon Video

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, history
Directed by
Herbert J. Biberman
Written by
Michael Wilson
Starring
Rosaura Revueltas, Juan Chacón, Will Geer, David Bauer, Mervin Williams, David Sarvis, Clinton Jencks, Virginia Jencks
Music
Sol Kaplan
Cinematography
Leonard Stark, Stanley Meredith
Runtime
94 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English, Spanish

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