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Film-maker David Riker (La Ciudad) is to direct a remake of the 1953 film Salt Of The Earth, the original release of which was blocked during the McCarthy era, for Echo Lake Productions and Esparza/Katz Productions. The film will be produced by Doug Mankoff of Echo Lake along with Moctesuma Esparza and Robert Katz of Esparza/Katz Productions and Paul S Mezey who produced La Ciudad. Becca Wilson, daughter of original screenwriter Michael Wilson is co-producing. The film will be shot on location in Grant County, New Mexico. Salt Of The Earth is the true story of a New Mexico zinc mine strike in 1950 in which the predominantly Mexican-American miners overcame huge obstacles to solve white management's strike-breaking tactics. The original film, made between real-life New Mexico mining families and blacklisted Hollywood film-makers, was itself beset with obstacles such as the deportation of the lead actress and a boycott by many US theatres. The original was written by Wilson, whose credits included A Place In The Sun and The Bridge On The River Kwai, and directed by Herbert Biberman, one of the blacklisted Hollywood ten who defied the congressional committee investigating 'un-American activities' in the entertainment industry. Paul Jarrico, also a blacklisted screenwriter, produced the film which was eventually selected for the US Library Of Congress Registry Of Films. " Fifty years later, the themes of Salt of the Earth are as relevant as ever," said Riker in a statement. "Many of the women who joined the picket lines and starred in the original film are still alive, now in their eighties. Their children and grandchildren still work in the mines. There is great excitement about re-making the film and re-telling their story. Only this time, their hope and ours is that the film will finally reach the audience it deserves." " Salt of the Earth is an American treasure and yet very few people know about the film because it was essentially banned during the McCarthy period," Mankoff said. "I am very excited about working with David Riker and Paul Mezey once again, as well as with Esparza/ Katz and Becca Wilson to bring this beautiful, timeless story to contemporary audiences." " This exciting project has been near and dear to our hearts since the 1980's when we first discussed the idea with Paul Jarrico," said Robert Katz, speaking of the producer who died in 1997 in an auto accident returning from an event commemorating the blacklist era. "We are pleased to be working with David Riker and our partners to see that it is finally coming to fruition." Echo Lake is an independent production outfit with exclusive access to a private investment equity fund. Since 1998, the company has produced and financed ten films including La Ciudad, Things Behind The Sun, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing and The Big Empty. |
