Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Merrie Melodies Bugs Bunny cartoon, the 1959 Hare-Abian Nights (featuring Yosemite Sam), directed by Ken Harris.
This is the only Yosemite Sam cartoon from the classic era which had no involvement at all from the Friz Freleng unit, and the only Yosemite Sam cartoon from the classic era which the Chuck Jones team worked on, even though Chuck Jones himself never directed any Yosemite Sam cartoons until From Hare to Eternity, which was ironically the final cartoon he ever directed during his lifetime, done as a dedication to Friz Freleng who died in 1995, a year before that cartoon's release.
Before the start of our feature presentation, ACME Eagle Hand Soap would like you to join us in watching a middle-aged man accidentally feel a real emotion while doing a comedy bit on a television show -
Stephen Colbert keeping it real, if only in an accidental way.
We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's choice is Herbert Biberman's largely forgotten 1954 film, Salt of the Earth, written by Michael Wilson (both blacklisted during the McCarthy era,) and starring Rosaura Revueltas, Will Geer, and David Wolfe. This film is based on the 1951 strike against the Empire Zinc Company in Grant County, New Mexico. The film was panned by most critics when it came out and was banned from playing in most US theatres. Salt of the Earth was received favorably overseas and won the grand prize at the Prague Film Festival. Revueltas also won an award for her portrayal of Esperanza. She was blacklisted by the Mexican film industry after her work in the picture, modern sources note, but continued to act in the theater in East Berlin and Havana. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching this interesting, if unfamiliar film, Salt of the Earth. So push away from the table, get comfortable and enjoy the film.
Members of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Local 890, who were part of the original strike upon which this story is based, appear in this film as either extras or supporting cast. Juan Chacón, who played Ramon Quintero, was the Union Local president.
Demand Euphoria!
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