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Strong and Moving!

Overrated

Highly Overrated But Still Good

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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.

This film tells the story of Herbert Biberman (Jeff Goldblum), who is blacklisted at the height of the anti-communism movement. Listed along with him are Michael Williams, a screenwriter (Geraint Wyn-Davies), producer Paul Jarrico (John Sessions, who does a fine American accent) and Edward Dmytryk (Sean Chapman). Biberman is thrown in prison because he and his wife, actress Gale Sondergaard (Greta Scacchi) refuse to "name names" of communist friends. Later on, the film deals with the making of "Salt of the Earth", which tells the story of Mexican mine workers who decided to strike due to unfair practices. Biberman first casts his wife in the lead role, then replaces her with Mexican actress Rosaura Revueltas (Angela Molina). Sondergaard, who has been unable to find work for years because of her husband, is very upset by this, but continues to stand by her husband. I think this is a story that needed to be told, but I think the direction could have been better. All of the performances were excellent. I don't think that this is a "must see" film, but it's worth seeing if you are interested in this period of history or are a fan of any of the actors in the film.

"One of the Hollywood Ten" isn't a film worth wasting your money and time one. If this is the state of "mature" British film making then will someone please send me back to the nursery. The tiresome, unwatchable performances creak of another era: the 1980s! This is a "perfect" example of boring, unentertaining, left-wing film making. The kind that had too much to say for it's own good. Frankly I'd rather watch a repeat of "Thunderbirds". They weren't nearly as wooden as this bunch.

This is a superb film about Blacklisting of Hollywoods writers/directors and actors. Jeff Goldblum is fantastic as Director Herbert Biebelmen who made the acclaimed film "Salt Of The City". This is a very powerful film superbly Directed by veteran Welsh film maker Karl Francis. It also features a great supporting cast. Possible Oscar noms for this film.