What is the greatest union-themed movie of all time?

[bigbillhaywood]

My vote is for Matewan.

[Stargleamer]

1. "Salt of the Earth" -- blacklisted 1950's film

also "Northern Lights" which came out in the 1980's was also pretty good.

[bigbillhaywood]

2. I like Salt of the Earth, but I honestly think its overrated, I haven't

heard of Northern Lights, but I'll definitely have to check it out. Brief description?

[Stargleamer]

14. "Northern Lights" (1982) (IMDB gives 1978))

"Northern Lights" was a movie about poor North Dakota farmers during the 1910's who organize against banks, granaries, and the railroads. (I know it's not technically a union movie.)

These websites tell a little more:

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078008/>
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303359310/imdb-adbox/103-7336044-9825463>

[DEMVET-USMC]

3. The Grapes of Wrath

starring Henry Fonda gets my vote. ...Oscar

[madrchsod]

4. i`ll go with matewan

the cast was really good and the story line had alot of truth to it.

[PsN2Wind]

5. Norma Rae

with Sally Fields

[guitar man]

6. I like Norma Rae too

....also, I saw one on cable a couple months ago called "The Long Road Home" with Mark Harmon. I think it did a brilliant job of being entertaining while simply and graphically illustrating the need for unions.

[moof]

7. Blue collar

[Dookus]

8. Harlan County, USA

from IMDB:

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA.

[bigbillhaywood]

10. Gets my vote for best union documentary...I love it when one of the

miner's wives pulls the .38 out of her bra and says something like "I got something for those company thugs"

[Dookus]

12. heheh

awesome movie. Those women kicked ASS.

[nonconformist]

13. Wonderful documentary, although I am a bit biased

Since I live in Harlan and all. ;)

What is really depressing is virtually none of the mines here are unionized anymore. Everything those people fought for down the tubes. :(

[BringEmOn]

9. Bound For Glory

[lucidmadman]

11. MATEWAN and NORTHERN LIGHTS is a sweet little movie n/t

[sasquatch]

15. FIST is a close second to Matewan

[Delano]

16. Silkwood

Not so focused on unions, but gives a clear picture of what can happen to a person who tries to stand up for what's right without an organization to get their back.

[LagaLover]

17. The Molly Maguires (SP?)

[davsand]

18. There is an amazing documentary about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.

I honestly have no idea of the title--but it is gutwrenching when it describes what those needleworkers went thru in that fire. 146 women died in that fire, and to this day it bothers me horribly to even talk about it. Cornell University and UNITE (my old union) have an amazing website about it: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/

Much of what was in that documentary is included in that website.

Now for sheer fun and a union "pick me up" I have to agree that Norma Rae is a fun pro-union movie to see.

"I'm a horse."


Laura


BTW, I liked Matewan a LOT too!

[NightTrain]

19. Check out this link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=1031958

[Bertha Venation]

20. Norma Rae & Matewan eom

[Tom_Foolery]

21. Jack Nicholson's HOFFA is pretty good...

in its depiction of the early struggles of the Teamsters. The only drawback is, Director Danny DeVito put himself in too many scenes. I find it hard to believe that Jimmy Hoffa would have had a toadie like DeVito's character. DeVito even followed Nicholson into the john.