One of the Hollywood Ten (2000)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Karl Francis

Writer:

Karl Francis (writer)

Release Date:

9 November 2001 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Herbert Biberman struggles as a Hollywood writer and director blacklisted as one of The Hollywood Ten in the 1950s. |

Plot Keywords:

Academy Awards Ceremony | Blacklist | Anti Fascism | Number In Title

Cast

Jeff Goldblum	...	Herbert Biberman
Greta Scacchi	...	Gale Sondergaard
Ángela Molina	...	Rosaura Revueltas
Christopher Fulford	...	Riffkind
Antonio Valero	...	Juan Chacón
John Sessions	...	Paul Jarrico
Geraint Wyn Davies	...	Michael Wilson
Sean Chapman	...	Edward Dmytryk
Peter Bowles	...	Jack Warner
Jorge de Juan	...	Floyd
Teresa José Berganza	...	Henrietta Williams (as Teresa J. Berganza)
Jorge Bosch	...	Joe Morales
Daisy White	...	Sonya (as April Daisy White)
Luke Harrison Mendez	...	Dan (as Luke Harrison Méndez)
Trinidad Serrano	...	Joan

Also Known As:

Punto de mira (Spain)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Spain | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Spain:7

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Bloom Street Productions

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film depicts many 50-star United States flags (should be 48 in 1947).

Movie Connections:

References Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Soundtrack:

Twinkle in Your Eye

interesting story, pedestrian treatment

It's interesting reading the comments for this movie here. Some are rather bizarre; an actor with a non-speaking part complains that he wasn't directed well and someone manages to watch this whole movie and still believes fervently in the blacklist. So I'll add my own thoughts to the mix.

The first part of the movie, which deals with the effects of the blacklist on a few people, is a little dull. The subject has been tackled much better often over the years. The performances are good but it's all rather lacklustre. There are also these rather jarring little hops in time that are meant to add punch but just seem slightly off.

The second part, involving the filming of Salt of the Earth, is more interesting, because it's something new and it is pretty shocking what lengths the government went to to stop this little movie. It could have been done better, and still feels a little lacklustre, but it's an interesting side story of the blacklist. The movie would have been better off just rushing through the early part and devoting the movie entirely to Salt of the Earth.

Perhaps the movie can be understood through it's title, "One of the Hollywood Ten." What a lame title. It's like they couldn't bother to come up with a real title and just figured they'd name it something that would let people know the subject matter. Personally, I think I would have been more inclined to call it "8000 Feet of Freedom," (something said in the movie) although there's probably a better title out there.

I would like to see a documentary on the same subject to see what really happened (while I know from googling around that a fair amount of what is in the film happened in real life, I don't know if it happened so melodramatically; perhaps it did).

Salt of the Earth, by the way, is an interesting movie. A little stilted in places, but affecting, with a feminist slant that proves there was more progressive intelligence in the country than you ever could have guessed from Hollywood offerings.