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Scene from Salt of the Earth: Miners before they strike.
In his book, Herbert Bieberman called the years of 1953-54 Un-America. He was speaking about the motion picture industry and the government’s efforts to prevent Salt of the Earth from being completed and shown to the American public. He was also talking about the censorship, discrimination and the repression of civil rights and free speech during this time. He mentions the book burning sanctioned by the American government at some of the State Department’s overseas libraries.
Senator Joe McCarthy and his “henchmen” David Schine and Roy M. Cohn forced the removal and burning of the books. Any book by an author suspected of being a communist, promoting communist ideas, or critical of McCarthy or the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was subject to be removed from the shelves and/or burned. Two of the author’s whose books were banned were African American poet Langston Hughes and author Howard Fast (The Immigrants, Spartacus).
Science Fiction writer Ray Bradbury had his book Fahrenheit 451 published in 1953. In a 1956 radio interview he said he wrote the book over concerns of the threat of book burning in the United States at the time. The book is about a futuristic society where books are outlawed and firemen seek them out and burn them. In 1954 the words “under God” were added to the pledge of allegiance as a push-back against atheistic Communism during the Cold War.
Months after they left New Mexico, the producers were still looking for a laboratory to develop their film. No laboratories in Los Angeles would touch it. They were luckier finding a composer for the soundtrack. Sol Kaplan had also been blacklisted in Hollywood. He was a composer and concert pianist. Between 1940 and 1953 he had scored 30 motion pictures including Titanic and Niagara in 1953. He had been subpoenaed by HUAC after actor John Garfield during testimony mentioned that Kaplan was a friend of his. At his hearing, Kaplan denied he was a communist and challenged the committee to produce his accusers. He invoked the Bill of Rights in refusing to cooperate with the committee.
As a response to Congressman Jackson’s contention that Salt of the Earth was a subversive film, Bieberman arranged with The California Quarterly magazine to have the screen play printed in full. He purchased 10,000 copies and sent them to newspapers, writers, columnists, magazines, clergymen, trade union leaders and members of Congressman’s committee. They were able to get some positive publicity from some of the press and organizations. The New York Times ran a column about the script asking “what is all the shooting about?” The Santa Fe New Mexican, the leading newspaper in New Mexico, published an editorial questioning why Senator McCarthy and Congressman Jackson were trying to stop the film. They said, “t\The union has every right to tell its side of the story.” They added, “The country is in no stronger position when it suppresses films than when it burns books.”
Filmmakers soon found someone willing to edit the picture. Mike Jarrico and the editor took the negative of the film around the country looking for someone to develop it. Ironically they traveled on Howard Hughe’s airline TWA. They were able to have the film developed and had a fine grain positive print made in case something happened to the original. They kept this print “hidden” in Los Angeles. They had heard that Brewer had traveled to Mexico believing the film was there. Brewer had met with the Mexican film union’s executive board and asked their assistance in refusing to handle any part of the film. They tabled his request.
Their editor had never worked on a feature film before. He was a documentary editor. After two months one third of the film had been put together but it was unrecognizable as Bieberman’s film. They let the editor go. They would go through three more “cutters” before the film editing was complete. One of the editors turned out to be an FBI informer, although he was not there to sabotage the film but just to report on the status of the film and those working on it.
With the editing completed, they were now ready for the addition of special effects, credits, dissolves, fades, sound track and titles. This would take laboratory work and they were worried about being able to get the film into a lab. Brewer’s International union had placed a box on its monthly bulletin advising all local unions to contact them before doing any work on Salt of the Earth. This along with word from Howard Hughes meant that studios would look unfavorably on anyone servicing this film.
They considered doing the work in New York but the logistics and added costs would be prohibitive. Due to delays and the problems they had faced, the film had gone over budget. They were out of money and Bieberman and his associates were given the added problem of raising more money to finish their movie. They brainstormed to figure out how they could get their film into a lab without it being “detected.”
The idea they came up with was to give the film a pseudonym. The new name was “Vaya con Dios,” aptly suited for the film with the many Mexican American faces in the picture and the need of intervention by a higher power to help them get the film done. They also used fictional names for three different companies to go along with the movie. They sent small parts of the negative film to three different laboratories. By using three laboratories and alternating procedures to avoid inspection of the film which was only done in the mornings, they were able to get most of the prints completed.
It was at this point that the higher brass of the company of the main laboratory they were doing business with, discovered that the film they were working with was Salt of the Earth. They were tossed out of the lab and the word was spread throughout Hollywood to be on the lookout for this film. The special effects were the only part of the film left to be done. Bieberman packed up the film and flew to New York where he found a union run lab to work on it.
As the film neared completion, Bieberman decided to have a private screening at midnight, inviting friends who were knowledgeable film people including some that worked in the New York advertising and publicity offices for the Hollywood movie industry. Everyone loved the film, some comparing it to Grapes of Wrath. The projectionist, a union man, liked it so much he told his colleagues about the first pro-union film he had seen and that it was a wonderful film. He ran into a union official and told him about the film being “the first, real workingman’s picture ever made in the country…and acted by just working people.” The official after asking questions figured out that it was Salt of the Earth, the film his International union was against. The next day the owner of the company finishing up the special effects told Bieberman to get the film out of his lab. Paul Jarrico was able to find another company to complete the work although it was delayed and cost them more money. Finally, the film was ready to be shown!
While the film was being finished, Jarrico and Bieberman searched for a theater to hold the world premier. They decided New York would be the best location. Every theater owner they spoke to including some from closed theaters refused to show the film after learning that it was Salt of the Earth. They were told that IATSE had ordered its projectionists not to run the film in any theater.
Next Month the Final Chapter: Salt of the Earth Makes the Screen
If you missed the first part of this story, read it online here. You can read Part 2 online here. Part 3 can be read online here.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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