SALT OF THE EARTH
Herbert J. Biberman
To all media:

Laemmle Theatres and the L.A., Arroyo Seco and Westside chapters of the Green Party are proud to present a special screening of the 1950 film SALT OF THE EARTH as a benefit for the striking grocery workers of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) locals 770 and 1442. All proceeds will go to the strike and/or legal defense funds of the unions. The screening will be held at 7:30, Thursday evening, January 22 at the Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica and will be followed by a panel discussion of the movie and the current strike.

"The grocery workers on strike in California are carrying on a heroic struggle in the great tradition of the American labor movement. Their resistance to corporate power, their fight for a better life, helps all of us, and so we need to support them in every way we can." ~ Howard Zinn, author/educator/activist.

SALT OF THE EARTH is "one of the greatest films ever made, in my opinion. Couldn't get it out of my mind for weeks when I saw it, I guess about 50 years ago." ~ Noam Chomsky, author/educator/activist

Made during the height of the McCarthy era by a group of blacklisted filmmakers who were among the best and the brightest Hollywood talent of the day, SALT OF THE EARTH is a powerful and emotional film. Selected by the Library of Congress as one of only 100 American films to be preserved for posterity, the film portrays a moving and controversial portrait of human courage. The film is based on a 1950 strike by zinc miners in Silver City, New Mexico. Against a backdrop of social injustice, a riveting family drama is played out by the characters of Ramon and Esperanza Quintero, a Mexican-American miner and his wife. In the course of the strike, Ramon and Esperanza find their roles reversed: when the government enacts the Taft-Hartley act against them, the strikers' wives take over the picket line for the men and leave their husbands to domestic duties. The women evolve from men's subordinates into their allies and equals.

* UFCW contact: John Grant, (213) 487-7070 x 128 or grantjm@ufcw770.org
* Laemmle contact: Jordan Moore, (310) 478-1041 x 208 or jordan@laemmle.com
* Stills from the film are available at http://www.organa.com/salt.html
* The Monica 4-Plex is located at 1332 Second Street in Santa Monica. Phone: 310-394-9741. Tickets for this event are $20 each and now available at the theater box office.