Salt of the Earth was the introductory film project of the Independent Productions Corporation (IPC) formed in 1951 by a small group of Hollywood Communists who were convinced they could dodge the industry’s blacklist by working outside of the studio system. There are only few films in the history of Hollywood who have record so enthralling as that of Salt of the Earth.
The main theme of the movie lies on the fact that it is based on an actual strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico and with the exemption of five actors, the cast consists of the non-professionals, mostly participants of the real-life strike action. The reason behind the strike was to attain wage parity with Anglo workers in other mines and to be treated with dignity by the bosses.
The Mexican strikers were members of Local 890 of the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers an organization battered by the same anticommunist sluicing underway in Hollywood. Mine-Mill was booted from the CIO in 1950 because of suspected Communist activity. As Lorence said in “The Suppression of Salt of the Earth, Red-baiting” this was due to the union during the Cold War because there were both Communists and anti-Communist in Local 890. But in Lorence’s view, there was no evidence that union leaders or other high profile workers of Local 890 were appreciatiable of the Communist principles. Lorence is doing a lot to make this point clear because Salt of the Earth is under assault over the years from all the sides due to Communist propaganda as the film’s $250,000 budget was bankrolled by Los Angeles theater-owner Simon M. Lazarus, an outspoken left-wing activist with no ties to the Communist Party. The FBI struggled mightily to uncover a financial link, but none was ever established..........
