The Picket Line That Changes The Household
In Salt of the Earth , Esperanza Quintero has to chop wood just to heat water. In the same New Mexico mining town, white miners’ families have hot water on tap. That difference might seem small next to the danger of a faulty fuse underground. But Herbert Biberman’s 1954 drama gives both problems room on screen. Its best insight is that the company can shape a family’s life long after a miner clocks out.