If you can't understand what the lead actor is saying half the time, it's kind of hard to enjoy the film! That's what I encountered trying to watch this as Paul Muni, as a Polish coal mine worker, speaks in such a heavy accent I couldn't decipher what he was saying. It gets to be a frustrating experience. If this would come out on DVD with English subtitles, I'd be glad to give it another look.
Muni, almost always a fascinating actor, plays good-guy Joe Radek, a Pennsylvania coal miner who is used by his bosses to help them break the union. (This film is very pro-union, pro-working man.). They got Barton MacLane to play the heavy, something he was always good at doing. MacLane played the company boss. I always laugh at how these billionaire film makers always try to make management or the rich guys the evil ones. Maybe it's a guilty conscience from all the money they have made, but I see them more as big hypocrites.
However, I find no fault in any movie trying to help the coal miners who did, in fact, had it bad and deserved better. It was dirty job and a dangerous one. It still is, as far as I know, but conditions have to be a whole lot better than a hundred years ago so don't misinterpret what I said earlier: in many cases, management was "the bad guy" way back then. It's just that, in most cases, it has been the opposite case the last 50 years and now it's tough to be sympathetic to union causes
Anyway, Muni plays an interesting guy who you have to root for....if you can understand what he is saying with that accent.
Muni, almost always a fascinating actor, plays good-guy Joe Radek, a Pennsylvania coal miner who is used by his bosses to help them break the union. (This film is very pro-union, pro-working man.). They got Barton MacLane to play the heavy, something he was always good at doing. MacLane played the company boss. I always laugh at how these billionaire film makers always try to make management or the rich guys the evil ones. Maybe it's a guilty conscience from all the money they have made, but I see them more as big hypocrites.
However, I find no fault in any movie trying to help the coal miners who did, in fact, had it bad and deserved better. It was dirty job and a dangerous one. It still is, as far as I know, but conditions have to be a whole lot better than a hundred years ago so don't misinterpret what I said earlier: in many cases, management was "the bad guy" way back then. It's just that, in most cases, it has been the opposite case the last 50 years and now it's tough to be sympathetic to union causes
Anyway, Muni plays an interesting guy who you have to root for....if you can understand what he is saying with that accent.