If the film crew hadn't been sympathetic to our cause, we would've lost. Ive been trying to keep it going, but when you dont draw much, it dont go far.. Tap "Sign me up" below to receive our weekly newsletter "[2], When the film was re-released in 2006, critic Roger Ebert praised the film, writing "The film retains all of its power, in the story of a miners' strike in Kentucky where the company employed armed goons to escort scabs into the mines, and the most effective picketers were the miners' wives -- articulate, indomitable, courageous. Harlan Ufke Parde (1932-2016) - Find a Grave Memorial Organizers were shot at, their homes gassed. A miner complained that his foreman demanded he give him a bottle of Gatorade every day as sort of a job tax. Bobby's wife, Becky, who died in 2013, was a lifelong advocate for the people of Harlan County. Omissions? A former VISTA volunteer, she had worked on other documentaries, especially as an advocate of workers' rights.StoryKopple initially intended to make a film about Kenzie[citation needed], Miners for Democracy and the attempt to unseat Tony Boyle as president of the UMWA. It was [and still is]used to signify that what happened in the realm of politics, a field largely controlled by men, affect womens everyday lives. The strikers and management finally agreed to come to the bargaining table after his death.Lois Scott, a leading woman in the mining community, is shown playing a major role in galvanizing the people in support of the strike. A county where the average man lived in constant fear that there would not be a constant and or adequate income; where the only way to see change was to unite and to revolt by any means to force people to see the intolerable conditions that they live in. Ill shed no tears. Its dying.. What is the Mexican Spanish language plot outline for Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)? Create . Wayne Burgess of Tennessee was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in the death of his girlfriend's 1-year-old daughter, Nakeavia Rivers, who died Aug. 8, 1997, after being . Hazel Dickens's folk song lyrics of 'United we stand, divided we fall' and Florence Reece's lyrics for "Which Side Are You On?" It was settled in 1819 by Virginians led by Samuel Howard and was known as Mount Pleasant until renamed in 1912 for Major Silas Harlan, who was killed during the American Revolution at the Battle of Blue Licks (August 19, 1782). . About this essay. Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The family of eight children had little money, but Chester was happy and didnt think of himself as poor. A third of the community lives in poverty; a quarter of working-age residents are disabled. See Harlan County, USA - Morgantown magazine wide, Release Date (Streaming): Corrections? He was born Nov. 30, 1927 in Merrill, WI, son of Joseph Casanova and Lydia (Belling) Casanova. Harlan County U.S.A. by Felicia Elliott, August 2, 2016. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. At one point during a union meeting, a union leader is scolding the other men for not showing up at the picket line. In April 1977, she watched from nearby mountains as floods caused by strip mining washed away everything her family owned. Rumors flew that a \"hippie crew from New York\" was sniffing around the strike. Lois Scott, a leading woman in the mining community, is shown playing a major role in galvanizing the people in support of the strike. A couple of moments, actually. City of Harlan - Harlan County Get info about new releases, sales, and our online publication, Current. Though it's hard to follow with all of the ideas of the Kentucy-Coal-Miners, it is extremely easy to follow their cause. Thank God for them; thank God they're on our side. The union staff, now led by a Montana official, Tony Boyle, encamped in the union offices and rarely ventured into Appalachia, where the depression of the 30s seemed never to have ended. We dont have no money to pay nothing with, Bobby says. This sticking point became moot when, a few years after the strike, the UMWA folded the agreement won by this group of workers into a global contract. Harlan County USA - The Criterion Channel Harlan, city, seat of Harlan county, southeastern Kentucky, U.S., in the Cumberland Mountains, on the Clover Fork Cumberland River. [4] The miners were concerned that accepting such a provision would limit their ability to influence local working conditions. Alas, catastrophe awaited, this time in the booming 50s. For example, when the strike breakers and others hired by the company show up early in the filmthe strikers call them \"gun thugs\"the company people tried to keep their guns hidden from the camera. Kopple felt it was important to continue filming (or pretend to, even when they were out of film) because the presence of the crew and staff support seemed to help keep the violence down.Kopple did provide facts and statistics about the companies and the workers. I think the most authentic element of the film is the soundtrack, which is comprised of union songs sung by the strikers themselves. 555. We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. Harlan County, USA followed 200 coal-mining families and their battle to get their rights, what every human being needs, and yet it's unbaised. Barbara Kopple's Academy Award-winning Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners' strike in a small Kentucky town. Which Side Are You On? was written in the immediate aftershock of a midnight raid on Reeces home and her children by Harlan County Sheriff J.H. No copyright infringement intended. Here is an edited version of that conversation. "Harlan County" is assuredly for the little guy. Interviews with many of the miners and company executives tell the story without the narration that we see in many of today's documentary, in which the documentarian is a central character in the film. Several times she is seen publicly chastising those she feels have been absent from the picket lines. A gripping reality that still exists in America. The first section of the film traces the immediate history of the strike and shows how the Kentucky miners were first invoiced in democratizing the corrupt United Mine Workers Union, then headed by Tony Boyle. It was [and still is] used to signify that what happened in the realm of politics, a field largely controlled by men, affect women's everyday lives. A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line. It contains a famous scene where guns are fired at the strikers in the darkness before dawn, and Kopple and her cameraman are knocked down and beaten. Copyright Fandango. With King Coal now on its deathbed, residents wonder what will come next. So when this strike came up, I saw the opportunity and I jumped right in there. And jump right in they did. Harlan County USA Trailer - YouTube The 1920s, a decade of defeat for American workers everywhere, left the UMWA in a shambles. Blair talked him out of it. Kopple did provide facts and statistics about the companies and the workers. Featuring a haunting soundtrackwith legendary country and bluegrass artists Hazel Dickens, Merle . Coming Soon. Later that year, Yablonski and his family were found murdered in their home. In: A. McColl. Much of the landscape now bears the scars of mountaintop removal mining, a last-gasp effort by coal companies to revive the industry. "[12], In a 2015 interview with Variety, Kopple was asked if she was in danger while working on this film. It reflected the culture of the people of Harlan County and showed the power of folk music that was a living part of their culture. Later, after he was convicted of giving $20,000 to another union executive council member to hire the killers of Yablonski and his wife, Boyle appears frail, sickly and using a wheelchair; he was carried up the courthouse steps to face sentencing.Almost a full year into the strike, miner Lawrence Jones was fatally shot during a scuffle. Once the miners start to strike, the owners of the mine respond by hiring scabs to fill the jobs of the regular employees. Upon the founding of Harlan County (named for Kentucky pioneer Silas Harlan) in 1819, the Howards donated 12 acres (49,000 m 2) of land to serve as the county seat. First of all, they were tired of the way the media portrayed thema familiar feeling today, but even worse back then. The rank-and-file group Miners for Democracy was organized at the funeral. As the strike dragged on for nearly a year, both sides eventually openly brandished their weapons. You see the true picture of this small town and their complete dependence on the coal mining industry. Michael Sletto officiating. And their strength was essential to the eventual success of the strike.In the first few minutes of Harlan County, U.S.A., we see a young woman talking about how her grandfather was a coal miner, how hating the company was a common household conversation, and how she too came to hate the company. The question is back: Which Side Are You On?. English, Director: She was the daughter of a Kentucky coal miner and married to Sam Reece, an organizer for the radical National Miners Union, then embroiled in the bloody 1931 Harlan County war. Eastern Kentucky has been especially hard-hit: The number of miners employed in Harlan County fell from more than 3,000 in 1988 to fewer than 1,000 in 2014. [4] The miners were concerned that accepting such a provision would limit their ability to influence local working conditions. Her editor, Nancy Baker, who was also onstage, took hundreds of hours of footage and brought it together with power and clarity. Harlan County, Kentucky, is a rural county located in a major coal-mining region in the Appalachian Mountains. Cinemark Using a translator, the Spanish-speaking miners told their story. Life After Coal in Harlan County, U.S.A. - In These Times [7], Harlan County, USA was preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in conjunction with New York Women in Film & Television, in 2004. Collapses, explosions and other accidents killed tens of thousands during the 20th century. On July 1, Blackjewel LLC abruptly shut down its six Harlan mines, filed bankruptcy, and sent the miners home without pay. Were just barely getting by on that, he says. She notes that Duke Power Company's profits increased 170 percent in a single year. Cause we cant have a picket line at the bridge with a .30-caliber machine gun shooting at you. Harlan County, USA is a 1976 Oscar-winning documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike", an effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Po. Four generations of Roberts family have worked in the mines, including his grandfather, Charlie Simpson, his father, Bobby Simpson (p. 28) and his son-in-law, Danny Stewart (p. 28). Criterion Collection Edition #334 Barbara Kopple's Academy Award-winning HARLAN COUNTY USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners' strike in a small Kentucky town. with updates on movies, TV shows, Rotten Tomatoes podcast and more. Arm's length is not director Barbara Kopple's style; she puts us right alongside these Kentucky miners and their families, striking Harlan County's . From Barbara Kopple's Harlan County USA. A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line. "I found out later that they planned to kill us that day," Kopple said later, in a discussion I chaired at the Filmmakers' Lodge. They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating. Managers pleaded guilty to impeding the Mine Safety and Health Administrations enforcement efforts. The community is not only suffering, says Chester Napier, 75, a former mining company driver. HARLAN COUNTY, U.S.A. sets up the conflict between the homes and the miners in a very similar way. Here was a combination of the whole thing, you see: you had to bump against the whole combination of them. judge hogg harlan county. It seems likely that she highlights the women in the movie not just because of their significance, but also because she is interested in documenting how this stressful, sometimes traumatic strike affected women, as well. The community there was already known as "Mount Pleasant", apparently owing to a nearby Indian mound.A post office was established on September 19, 1828, but called . It contains a famous scene where guns are fired at the strikers in the darkness before dawn, and Kopple and her cameraman are knocked down and beaten. Kopple soon asked a striker, \"Why are you telling people not to talk to me?\" \"Girl\", she was told, \"you gotta tell people here what you're doin'.\"Kopple and her crew spent years with the families depicted in the film, documenting the dire straits they encountered while striking for safer working conditions, fair labor practices, and decent wages. Bobby Doyle Rowlettnamed after his grandfather, Bobby Simpsonleft Harlan County in 2015 for a position with the RJ Corman Railroad Group. "In Harlan County, U.S.A., sound anchors, explains, and makes 'authentic' visual imagery compromised by the long history of documentary work in Appalachia.". Privacy Policy Etta Turner Harlan Cox (1902-1980) - Find a Grave Memorial Coal miners strike against the company that exploits them and the union that doesn't always represent their interests. 1h 43m, Distributor: Inc. town, 1884; city, 1912. She followed them to picket in front of the Stock Exchange in New York City, filming interviews with people affected by black lung disease, and miners being shot at while striking.The company insisted on having a no-strike clause in the proposed new contract. Your Ticket Confirmation # is located under the header in your email that reads "Your Ticket Reservation Details". With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners' sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Kingdom Come State Park and the Redbird Purchase Unit of Daniel Boone National Forest are nearby. Only late in 1939 did intransigent Harlan coal masters reluctantly sign on with the union. Chester had done so well that the company owner tried to entice him to stay with a raise of $1 per hour, from $6.75 to $7.75. Harlan, Kentucky - Wikipedia Strangers were kidnapped, then lucky if they were just taken to the county line. The strike, which lasts more than a year, frequently becomes violent, with guns produced on both sides, and one miner is even killed in a conflict. COPYRIGHT 2016 IN THESE TIMES AND THE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS. Aging autocrat and UMWA President John L. Lewis agreed to allow the employers a free hand in mechanizing the mines. While the womens meeting temporarily devolves into cattiness, the voice of reason prevails. Kopple also shared the stage with Utah miners who are currently on strike; although the national average pay for coal miners is $15 to $16 an hour, these workers -- who are striking for a union contract -- are paid $7 for the backbreaking and dangerous work. Many of the issues have changed, but the exploitation of coal miners, the corruption of the union, and the dangerous nature of the work have remained horrifyingly similar as the recent mine accidents attest. A lot of people get hung up on using coal because if we stopped we would lose so many jobs..yada yada But coal is a finite resource and eventually we will run out of it and have to make the transition anyway. Main Office: 7435 Michigan Ave, Detroit, MI 48210; (313) 842-6262.East Coast Office: 104 Montgomery St, Brooklyn, NY 11225; (718) 284-4144.Labor Education and Research Project 2005-2016. occupying a railroad track to halt a coal train. Cinemark Hundreds of volunteers came each year to fix porches, hang dry wall and mend roofs. Coming Soon, Regal Whatever the reason, new industry has been painfully slow to materialize. Marvel Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, Jurassic Park Movies Ranked By Tomatometer, RT25: Celebrating 25 Years of Rotten Tomatoes, Weekend Box Office Results: Super Mario Joins the Billion-Dollar Club. Its been months since hes had a job. Priscilla Stephens ticks off a list of companies that have come and gone: a furniture factory, a long-time furniture store, a sock factory. He was unmoved. This is the Harlan County USA movie trailer. The couple later founded the Cranks Creek Survival Center, a nonprofit that provided food, clothing and home repairs to area residents for decades. Im after a contract. She says, I told myself then, if I ever get the opportunity to get those coal operators, I will. Danny Stewart, 30, is a fifth-generation miner who began working in the industry shortly after graduating from high school in 2004. In one scene, Scott pulls a pistol from her bra. Harlan County, USA followed 200 coal-mining families and their battle to get . When it runs down, he says hell decide whether he wants to have a new one installed. This sticking point became moot when, a few years after the strike, the UMWA folded the agreement won by this group of workers into a global contract.Rather than using narration to tell the story, Kopple chose to film the words and actions of the people themselves. In one scene, Scott pulls a pistol from her bra.AwardsAcademy Awards: Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, 1976Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Special Award, 1977Belgian Film Critics Association: Grand Prix, 1979Like \u0026 Subscribe for more vintage educational content posted weekly. Still, the Wall Street bankers and East Coast industrialists who owned the vast seams of the Southern coalfields would not give up without a fight, and Harlan remained Bloody Harlan. Armed company guards and sheriffs deputies patrolled the steep mountains and narrow valleys of the Kentucky Appalachians. 'Harlan County' came out of the tradition of Albert Maysles and Leacock and Pennebaker, documentarians who went somewhere and stayed there and watched and listened and made a record of what happened. When the documentary Harlan County, USA came out in 1976, the people of Appalachia had been having a moment. His wife, Annie, died about a decade ago. He married Betty Hougum at St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Stevens Point, WI on May 3, 1947. give one the full-flavor of the miners' mood and the union fervor sweeping the mining community in the black mountains of Appalachia. Directed and produced by Barbara Kopple.When the film was re-released film critic Roger Ebert praised the film, writing, \"The film retains all of its power, in the story of a miners' strike in Kentucky where the company employed armed goons to escort scabs into the mines, and the most effective picketers were the miners' wives -- articulate, indomitable, courageous. Blair, in search of her husband. It is the small scale of the bribe that hit me, demonstrating how desperately poor these workers are. It's Me, Margaret. "Tony" Boyle for the presidency of the UMWA in 1969, but lost in an election widely viewed as corrupt. Harlan County, U.S.A. - Rotten Tomatoes They were two of the towns founding families who had feuds that lasted for generations. They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating. Give $10 a month or more and get our "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt. Barbara Kopple's hard-hitting, rought-around the edges, people vs politics documentary definitely heats up the screen, and some thoughts. In this documentary about labor tension in the coal-mining industry, director Barbara Kopple films a strike in rural Kentucky. SUMMARY OF FACTS. [11], In the film's 2004 Criterion Collection special feature, The Making of Harlan County, USA, associate director Anne Lewis compares Scott to Women's Liberation activists. Kopple and her crew spent years with the families depicted in the film, documenting the dire straits they encountered while striking for safer working conditions, fair labor practices, and decent wages. In the documentary, his mother can be seen breaking down during his funeral, screaming and being carried away by male attendees. I asked Kopple what she thought about other styles of documentaries, like Michael Moore's first-person adventures, or the Oscar-nominated "Story of the Weeping Camel," which is scripted and has people who portray themselves, but is not a direct record of their daily lives. [2], When Kopple and her cameraman Hart Perry showed up on the picket line, the locals were suspicious of their intentions. The county became nationally famous in 1931 and 1932 when it was the site of one of the earliest and bloodiest labor battles of the decade. Downtown Harlan has undergone a revitalization effort for several years and currently offers unique boutiques such as Sassy Trash and Sonwood's as well as local restaurants like The Portal and Moonbow each exhibiting eclectic flavors and Appalachian spirit. Things are looking up for the couple. New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director-producer Barbara Kopple, Audio commentary by Kopple and editor Nancy Baker, New video interview with legendary bluegrass singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens, New video interview with director John Sayles, A panel discussion from the 2005 Sundance Film Festival featuring Kopple and Roger Ebert, English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, New essays by film scholar Paul Arthur and music journalist Jon Weisberger. A UMWA organizer who welcomed us displayed a revolver on the dashboard of his car. After the railroad arrived in 1911, the town developed as a shipping point for lumber and coal. Foremost among them was Hazel Dickens, a miner's wife and sister, now 69, who wrote songs for the movie and led the room in singing "Which Side Are You On?" The song Which Side Are You On? became the anthem of a reborn United Mine Workers (UMWA) union in the 1930s, then an anthem for all workersa reflection of working-class consciousness in the turbulent New Deal years. After the railroad arrived in 1911 . Documentary, Original Language: The film captures the dire poverty of the miners and their families, and their bitter and violent struggles against both Eastover and union-busting scabs and . Although these miners today have no union, the mines of Harlan County have a storied history of grassroots labor militancy. Staff at the Harlan Hotel seemed pleased to show us the bullets still embedded in the failing faade of the aging building. I also found that the Catholic hierarchy was working with the coal companies. A very ambitious documentary that was incredibly ahead of its time. If you look at it from the road, youd think it was booming, says Burkhart, 56, a former coal tipple operator who has also developed black lung. Wayne Burgess' conviction in Nakeavia Rivers' murder vacated - USA Today Harlan County | Encyclopedia.com Barbara Kopple Discusses 'Harlan County USA' - The Drunk Projectionist Meanwhile, the striking miners, many of whom are living in squalid conditions without utilities or running water, were offered a 4% pay increase, at a time when the estimated cost of living increase was 7% for that same year.