Amazon.com essential video

A man crouches and pokes at what first appears to be a wad of chewed-up pink bubble gum on the ground. "That's what a scab will do to ya, by God," he says, his voice quavering with emotion. The pink wad is brain tissue from a striker shot in the head by a strikebreaker. That's one of the harsh realities of Harlan County USA. Barbara Kopple's documentary camera looks at this forgotten corner of 1970s America, the site of some of the bitterest labor violence in American history. It's hard to believe that some 40 years after the Depression, there were parts of Appalachia that were hardly better off than they were in the 1930s. The care-worn faces of the miners and their families speak volumes. They're the tough, proud faces of people struggling to make a living the way that their parents and grandparents did in generations past. Kopple skillfully weaves archival footage and traditional labor songs through the film to give a historical perspective to the strike against Eastover Mining Company. Above and beyond the labor issues, the film takes a hard look at the living conditions, health issues, and poverty faced by Harlan's residents, the human toll that goes along with the mining industry. The tense confrontations between Eastover's slimy security goons and the unionizers are particularly gripping, with the threat of violence hanging thick in the air. Sometimes ugly, always absorbing, this is an important, enlightening social record, one that serves the highest calling of the documentary filmmaker's art. --Jerry Renshaw ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Great movie..but not the entire story!
The Movie didnt tell much about the people of Harlan County..Henry Ford first exploited the people here at Wallins KY to mine coal to make coke to make his automobiles..untill then the people of this area were totaly self sufficient and didnt need a thing... most spoke several launguages..and were for the most part more educated than the rest of the US...So Henry Ford decided to do us a favor!..Just goes to show you technology isnt always a good thing!..Would have been a nice add in to the movie I think??...I'm in Harlan County..was here during the strike...and remember my grandparents talking of all the battles here in the 30's....This strike was nothing compared to the Days when "Bloody Harlan " got its name...As far as this movie goes?...Just another average strike In Harlan County*S*

The heart and soul what it is to be a coal miner
Produced and directed by Barbara Kopple, the film crew lived with the miners and their families during that period and were able to somehow get into the heart and soul of what it is to be a coal miner.

There are shots inside the mine where I can almost taste the dust and feel the claustrophobic confines. There's a shot of a woman giving a small child a bath in a tin bathtub and promising that when the strike is over, they might be able to live in a house with a real bathtub and running water. There are the miners' wives who are organizing to take a big part in the strike. And there are labor songs sung with the voices of people who really understand what these songs mean.

Most of all though, it is the faces of the people that I will never forget. There are no professional actors here; all these people are real. They are hollow cheeked, with deep lines etched on their faces and rotted which teeth which have never seen a dentist. Some are already victims of black lung disease. Others speak of husbands and grandfathers who died in mine explosions.

All this is mixed with just the right amount of historical footage to give background. There is no annoying voice over, just an occasional line of writing superimposed on the screen to clarify a point or give specific details. The miners and their families speak for themselves, sometimes directly into the camera, other times among each other.

Because of their thick Kentucky accents, I sometimes found it difficult to get every single word of dialog but this actually added to the authenticity of the video. I found myself moved by their plight, and feeling shivers of emotion throughout.

This stands out as an outstanding film and understand why it won an academy award. Recommended.

One of the best documentaries I've ever viewed...
When I told the librarian I wanted to see a video on coal mining, she handed me "Harlan County." I looked at the date - which indicated that the coal miners' strike featured in the movie took place in the early 1970s and I handed it back to her saying, "No, I'm interested in something with more history in it."

A few days later, I felt impelled to return to the library and get this VHS. I sat down to watch it one morning and could not turn it off. It's compelling, intriguing, educational and emotional. I cried several times, watching the struggle and learning more and more about a coal miner's life.

For the last few months, I've been doing research (in preparation for a book on Sears Homes) about Standard Oil's coal mines in Macoupin County, Illinois in the 1920s. "Harlan County" showed archival footage and presented information that showed what a miner's life looked like - through the ages. Duke Power's coal mines in Harlan County, Kentucky were so backwards and Standard Oil's coal mines in Macoupin County, Illinois were so progressive, that I learned more than I ever expected about early 1900s mining techniques.

The story about the man and the mules is something I'll never ever forget. Or the miner's conversation with the New York policeman. Thank God for the director Ms. Koppel, who was inspired to create this documentary! And for her having the wisdom and foresight to record these old miners' reminiscences of life in the coal mines in the early years of the 20th Century.

Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces from my months of book reading and research came together when I saw these old films and heard the miners talk.

I'll be watching it again and again - with my family, too. And I hope every person who uses electricity in this country will watch it, too.

An interesting aside - in the 1920s in Macoupin County, Illinois, one coal miner died (on average) for every 279,000 tons of coal that was mined. Between 1900-1969, 100,000 miners died in this country. Standard Oil's mines (operated from 1918-1925) in Macoupin County may have been the safest mines in the country, but several men died in those mines, too.

In 1918, Standard Oil of Indiana built 192 Sears Modern Homes for their (mostly immigrant) miners in Macoupin County. (The term "Modern Homes" simply meant that the houses had kitchens, bathrooms, running water, central heat and electricity.)

In 1973, Duke Power's miners in Harlan County were still living in shacks with no running water.

Rose Thornton

Real-Life Rancor
Dirt-poor miners struggle (to the death, in many cases) to unionize against the insurmountably evil coal bosses in this Oscar-winning documentary. Watch in awe (no joke) as simple men, women, and children, exemplify the true meaning of chasing the American dream. After watching "HCU," you'll never complain about YOUR job again. Ever.

Not just a strike against the Coal Operators
Not only does Ms. Kopple's work bring to the table the injustice, served daily, in Harlan, but also displays to the viewer the inner politics of powerful, present-day unions. This film should be required viewing for every Rank and File member of a Union. It should also be required viewing for all management and salaried employees. The management will say, "Good thing I got my degree and I'm not down in the hole with those redneck miners. Haw-Haw-Haw!"

The Salaried Employees will respond: I hate my job, I hate my boss, if I could kill everyone in this office, I would; NO---- Not my boss, "like the Nazis", he's only following orders. Not my co-workers---They're only doing their job and trying to lead a healthy life.

Whom then? Who do we crucify? In every management situation there is an overseer and a slave, in every salaried position, there is an overseer and a slave, AND in every rank and file position there is an overseer and slaves.

Rank and File, Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains, held by your big union and management Overseers!

Jason ... Read more

Amazon.com

In 1996, with his public image at a low ebb after a messy breakup with Mia Farrow, clarinetist and filmmaker Woody Allen set off on a tour of Europe with his New Orleans jazz band. Accompanying him were his sister, his soon-to-be wife Soon-Yi Previn, and Oscar-winning documentary maker Barbara Kopple. Like Allen says as the beginning of the tour, "Theoretically, this should be fun for us."

Woody Allen has always been more widely appreciated in Europe than in the U.S., so it's no surprise that the concerts quickly provoke the kind of fan hysteria usually reserved for rock stars.This star however is clearly not comfortable with his fame.Whether he's giving a tour of his lavish hotel suite or prodding at an unexpectedly dry omelet, the director seems profoundly ill at ease and sometimes--when trapped by a crowd or harassed by a particularly persistent photographer--he appears to be both frightened and angry at the way celebrity shapes his life. The pressure to be funny on cue is the bane of any comedian's life, of course, and for Allen the seemingly endless round of receptions and parties is something to be endured, not enjoyed.In the face of this, the mutual support and affection shared by Allen and the woman he introduces as "the notorious Soon-Yi Previn" comes across as both genuine and absolutely necessary. When they are together, he is at his funniest, and his least guarded.

What persuaded such a private artist to allow such a documentary to be made?Perhaps it was a desire to celebrate his love of music, something that appears to sustain him as much as his relationship with Soon-Yi. He may refuse to bob his head and tap his feet to please his audience, but when he launches into a soaring solo we finally see Allen at ease, transported by the thrill of playing jazz. --Simon Leake ... Read more

Reviews (16)

If you're looking for a Woody Allen film, this isn't it.
I really like Woody Allen and it's still kinda cool seeing one of my favorite filmmakers playing my favorite instrument (the clarinet) in my favorite musical style of 1940's-New Orleans-period Jazz. There's no doubt that Woody Allen has talent for filmmaking, but we've heard little about his musical talents until now. Unfortunately, "Wild Man Blues" doesn't satisfy as a documentary or a Woody Allen film, but a voyeuristic view of a pretty unglamorous 2-week tour.

"Wild Man Blues" shows Woody go through a European tour with his Jazz band, stopping in major cities like Paris, Milan, Madrid, Bologna & London. His performances are to large crowds of 1,000 or more people, and it turns into an event that is obviously uncomfortable for the notoriously recluse filmmaker. We get a pale "behind the scenes" view of Woody in real life, which personally reminded me of the MTV Real World method: Film everything and keep the most interesting parts, which are few & far between. As the movie progresses, Woody gets comfortable enough for the ever-present camera to start making some of his trademark quips about anomalies in general; broken light switches, forgotten breakfast items, etc. This wears off some of the effect, since it seems we are not watching a good documentary, but a film with inconsistent dialogue.

I personally would rather have a movie of an entire performance of the Jazz band, rather than a tour of fine hotel rooms, backstage areas and curious crowds, interspersed with a few minutes of performances. The film seemed to focus on Woody & Soon-Yi, while pretty much neglecting the rest of the band. Interesting comparisons were left un-addressed: Sure, Woody and Soon-Yi stay in 5 star hotels, but where does the band stay? How do they feel about their musical performances often being overshadowed by his celebrity? Woody gets a private plane, but no other musicians seem to fly with him? That would have been much more interesting that spending 5 minutes of film being spent on a broken shower.

The one surprise of the film is the revealing of the roles of Woody & Soon-Yi in their relationship. I was not expecting this, but I definitely came away thinking that they interact quite well as a couple. But once again, I love Woody Allen films, but am pretty uninterested in his personal life.

I've seen Woody Allen & his Jazz band live in NYC, and that was a huge treat unto itself. I hope one day a film focusing on the music-performance is released.

Un-Wild Man Blues
Barbara Kopple's "Wild Man Blues" is decidedly un-wild. That's its first fib. It is the un-intense and un-penetrating chronicle of Woody Allen's 1997 European tour with his New Orleans jazz band. Released in 1998, "Wild Man Blues" came hard on the heels of a period of public scandal for the notoriously private filmmaker, prompting critics to dub it a "public relations corrective". There is a whiff of mendacity about this film. Its motive is abstruse and its meaning convoluted. It carries an air of constructivism. It smells like propaganda. Lurking behind an obeisance to jazz music is a salve for moviegoers' indignation over Allen's romance with stepdaughter cum fiancé, Soon-Yi Previn.

Barbara Kopple has a reputation for truth seeking, winning an Oscar for her exploration of union violence in "Harlan County, USA", but "Wild Man Blues" lacks her early incisiveness. Despite her through-the-keyhole approach, Kopple's eye yields no unguarded moments. Instead she offers a prim and proper tableau--stagy and self-consciously sexless-- of the couple's daily life. Though they hold hands in public and snuggle in a gondola, only one scene suggests that Woody and Soon-Yi actually share a bed.

Conspicuously lacking in dialectic, this documentary is unable to facilitate any intelligent discourse on what is presumably the topic at hand: jazz. Woody Allen--filmmaker, intellectual and aesthete--has always drawn on the art of music with a sublime touch. The soundtracks for "Manhattan" and "Stardust Memories" are paragons. He is considered, and deservedly so, a jazz aficionado. What, then, accounts for the specious treatment of jazz in "Wild Man Blues"? Referring to Dixieland jazz only cursorily as "primitive", "un-cerebral", "crude", "like taking a bath in honey", Woody Allen denies us access to his comprehensive knowledge of music and Barbara Kopple does nothing to draw him out. Instead, she focuses on the ostentatious continental parade that was the 1997 tour. Private jets, ultra-lux accommodations and chauffeur-driven Mercedes purposefully serve to isolate the clarinetist from his band mates, a gulf that is not bridged when they finally cross paths in a Madrid green room. Allen takes the posture of puppeteer rather than participant and the resultant music is predictably stale and soulless. But then "Wild Man Blues" is hardly about the music.

This film has a separate agenda and its secret weapon is Soon-Yi. Convivial, energetic, the model of a modern young woman, Soon-Yi emerges as the film's bright spot, effectively its subject. Though a betrayal of Woody's beloved jazz, "Wild Man Blues" achieves its purpose: to overturn the public perception of Soon-Yi Previn as an exploited child. It establishes Woody and Soon-Yi in socially palatable roles-she as a confident, articulate, adult woman; he as having something to learn from her.

"Wild Man Blues" is an elegant and efficient little white lie that simultaneously exonerates and charges Woody Allen: exculpated as a corrupter of youth but indicted as a filmmaker who is not committed to the truth. Barbara Kopple is his cellmate.

The Private Woody on his terms
Woody Allen claims to be a private man. His films make their appearance without large press junkets with the filmmaker and even with the advent of DVD, he doesn't return to offer anything up on his experiences. So, it is rather ironic that he would have this movie made, one that exposes his personal life, even moreso since it takes place soon after his messy break-up with Mia farrow. But, since the film was being made, it was on his terms. It puts a heavy focus on Woody the musician (more a title of legend than reality.) Filmed on a Eurpoean Tour, the film is surprisingly revealing, allowing for the connection between his on and off screen personas to be compared. Featured prevelantly is his now wife, Soon-Yi Previn. With this document, she is shown to be a powerful force in his career(s). She also adds a touch of reality to his occasionally idealistic opinions. So, the result is a sometimes fun piece filled with some great Dixieland style music. A must for serious Woodyphiles but others may be a bit distraught by the pacing.

Woody can do no wrong
This is a fabulous documentary. Fun all the way, good music, good charm and witt. A new slant on his lovely wife plus his parents are too funny. Loved it.

paparaZZis'n'jaZZ
If you think Woody Allen is always playing himself in his films, you better watch »Wild Man Blues«. It shows a sensitive but also very calm, shy and yet self-confident soul. A human being who is not exclusively comfortable with being a celebrity. A New Orleans jazz enthusiast from New York who misses Europe when he's at home, and vice versa.

Meet the man, meet Woody Allen, watch »Wild Man Blues«! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Picks Up Where The Film Leaves Off
Beyond JFK is a documentary about the facts and stories that were the basis for Oliver Stone's film JFK. The video covers the arrests of Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, and Lee Oswald, including rarely seen footage. It also features extremely rare interviews with Dean Andrews, Clay Shaw, Jim Garrison, Lou Ivon, Marina Oswald, and Jim Marrs - to name a few.

This video, which is also included on the Special Edition DVD of Stone's film, is basically a re-hash of the movie, but its interesting because we get to see who these characters actually were and we get to hear - in their words - what they were thinking at the time of Garrison's infamous trial, and what they have to say about it now.

DISTURBINGLY HONEST AND BELIEVABLE
Sorry to say, most of the other reviews on this movie don't tell it like it is. I hope you can understand once you see the movie.

Beyond JFK is an excellent tool to hear both sides of the JFK case. We hear from both conspiracy types as well as supporters of the lone gunman theory. However, by watching this, you definitely get the sense that something gravely out of the ordinary took place on 11/22/63. With both sides arguing it out, including some renound writers, such as Mark Lane, Jim Marrs, and others, with some eyewitness testimony from real people like Ed Hoffman, Jean Hill, Marita Lorenz, Beverly Oliver, Fletcher Prouty, etc., you feel like you're actually there.

In this movie we see that JFK was definitely at odds with many in the gov't, CIA, Mafia, and Military. We also see signs of a cover up after his murder.

This movie will heighten your awareness on many sidepoints of the JFK assassination. So, if you haven't even seen the movie-JFK, I highly recommend Beyond JFK as a remarkable learning tool. It is also a good follow up the Oliver Stone movie as well.

If you're looking for other material to help you in your search for the truth, I highly recommend the video "The Assassination of JFK". 2 books I recommend are "Plausible Denial", by Mark Lane, and "Murder In Dealey Plaza", by James Fetzer Ph.D.

This movie is definitely a real treat. Enjoy.

Intriguing trash
This is intriguing, like the film JFK. But that is canceled out by the fact that Jim Garrison and Oliver Stone completely slandered Clay Shaw! They should both have served time for it. How would you like it, if after you were dead, some ego-ridden director made a movie saying you killed Nicole Brown Simpson. It would be the same exact thing. Please, please, please read Gerald Posner's book CASE CLOSED. It will show you logically that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone killer of Kennedy. I know that's hard to believe, after all the conspiracy hype. I opened that book skeptical, but came away convinced. Posner also has a chapter answering the Jim Garrison/Oliver Stone theory, and answers why it's garbage.

Beyond JFK? More like 'Beyond Your Wildest Dreams'!
'Beyond JFK' is a video that all JFK conspiracy buffs must see. The main reason is that you finally see the real people that we have all been reading about for years. Take Clay Shaw for example. Most of us have always seen photos of him but in this video, there he is, big as life! In addition, you will see interviews with the stars of 'JFK' by Stone and what they have to say on the assasination. The video last approximately 90 minutes but I wished it were twice as long. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Fallen Fallen Champ
Unfortunately this video was made in 1993 so it is very out of date.
But the title is perfectly appropriate since Mike Tyson was been a fallen champion
ever since and as time goes on he only seems to fall farther. Regardless this documentary is an objective source to answer most questions about Mike Tyson and gain some insight into him. The footage of a teenage Iron Mike was a major highlight. Although if you're interested mainly in boxing footage Mike Tyson-The Inside Story is better. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Director Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning rendering of a crippling strike at a Minnesota meat-packing plant may look dated, but the underlying theme of individuals crushed by big business remains all too timely. Using a briskly engrossing combination of first-person interviews, news broadcasts, and fly-on-the-wall encounters, Kopple creates an indelible document of a community's dissolution at the hands of larger forces. (The film is clearly on the side of the workers, but at the same time it refuses to ignore the petty infighting that eventually helped contribute to their ruin.) An alternately depressing, uplifting, and often profanely funny film that, at times, echoes Michael Moore's Roger and Me , but without that movie's distancing smarm. A movie's title has never seemed quite so bitterly apt.The director, who had previously won an Oscar for the equally arresting Harlan County USA, would later go on to document yet another traumatic event with Woody Allen's Wild Man Blues. --Andrew Wright ... Read more

Reviews (9)

No Retreat, No Surrender
In this amazing documentary about the Hormel strike in Austin, MN back in the mid 1980's, you can't help but understand why Unions are losing members every year.

Simply, companies have become so powerful that the only way Unions can fight back is with an all-out, risky assault. In the best cases they are able to win some of their demands. All too often though, they get very little back and their personal lives and friendships are damaged.

The Hormel strike is a glaring example of the Union having very few options to fight back. Soon, it becomes Union member vs. Union member in an attempt to determine the plan of attack instead of working together to fight Hormel.

As a Union member and supporter myself, I came away from the documentary with even more resolve to keep up the fight.

A very educational film
I am a high school teacher, and I use this film as a part of a unit entitled "The American Dream." Sure, this film is titled appropriately enough, but its significance runs much deeper.

Although I was just in grade school while the Hormel strike was raging, I do remember hearing about it on the news. I found this film to be a candid glimpse into the tenacity of the union struggle as well as a highlight of decisions that impacted people's lives forever.

Barbara Kopple did a wonderful job of interviewing union members who felt differently about the struggle going on. Each year, while my class views the film, I wonder whatever happened to the two brothers she highlights in the film -- one who was pro-union, no matter what, and one who decided to cross the picket line to support his family. In the film, the pro-union brother disowns his brother for becoming a scab. I found that family squabble to be classic of the kind of destruction this long, drawn out union battle caused.

This film represents the American Dream quite nicely. Here you have hundreds and thousands of union members who are fighting for the American Dream, but whose vision becomes a little cloudy during the struggle. I feel that Barbara Kopple did a good job of presenting the material in an unbiased way, for each year my students seem to view the film in their own ways. Not everyone comes to one conclusion as to which side was right or wrong.

Great movie
I liked this movies alot because of the complex and intricate way it told the story of a union, who time had come and gone. So often, like Harlan County, union stories are merely Us against Them with no middle ground. In this film, it is hard to determine who the heroes are-- those who crossed the picket line to feed their families or those who stood firm on principles and lost their jobs.

There is probably only one villian-- Ray Rogers, whose self-promoting tactics cost the hard-working laborers who the film makes you love.

Watch cautiously...
I was forced to view this video by family members who live in Austin, MN (where the strike took place), and I am glad I did so. I have always thought that unions have "wore out their welcome" in modern day America, and after viewing "American Dream", that thought is now more concrete than ever. Words and slogans like "Brotherhood", and "Solidarity" are obviously not directed for union members anymore... only for officers within unions. Great movie... it will sway or strengthen the way you view unions, one way or the other.

A haunting film...
This movie is so dramatically powerful, it's hard to believe it's real life. It's the devastating story of what happens to a small town when it's only industry turns against it. The characters are larger-than-life and the movie sticks with you long after it's over. The viewer is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride from the hopeful beginnings of the strike to the crushing end. Having family in Austin, MN (where the film takes place), I can say that this movie hits the nail on the head all too well. See this film. It's a truly moving experience. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Great movie..but not the entire story!
The Movie didnt tell much about the people of Harlan County..Henry Ford first exploited the people here at Wallins KY to mine coal to make coke to make his automobiles..untill then the people of this area were totaly self sufficient and didnt need a thing... most spoke several launguages..and were for the most part more educated than the rest of the US...So Henry Ford decided to do us a favor!..Just goes to show you technology isnt always a good thing!..Would have been a nice add in to the movie I think??...I'm in Harlan County..was here during the strike...and remember my grandparents talking of all the battles here in the 30's....This strike was nothing compared to the Days when "Bloody Harlan " got its name...As far as this movie goes?...Just another average strike In Harlan County*S*

The heart and soul what it is to be a coal miner
Produced and directed by Barbara Kopple, the film crew lived with the miners and their families during that period and were able to somehow get into the heart and soul of what it is to be a coal miner.

There are shots inside the mine where I can almost taste the dust and feel the claustrophobic confines. There's a shot of a woman giving a small child a bath in a tin bathtub and promising that when the strike is over, they might be able to live in a house with a real bathtub and running water. There are the miners' wives who are organizing to take a big part in the strike. And there are labor songs sung with the voices of people who really understand what these songs mean.

Most of all though, it is the faces of the people that I will never forget. There are no professional actors here; all these people are real. They are hollow cheeked, with deep lines etched on their faces and rotted which teeth which have never seen a dentist. Some are already victims of black lung disease. Others speak of husbands and grandfathers who died in mine explosions.

All this is mixed with just the right amount of historical footage to give background. There is no annoying voice over, just an occasional line of writing superimposed on the screen to clarify a point or give specific details. The miners and their families speak for themselves, sometimes directly into the camera, other times among each other.

Because of their thick Kentucky accents, I sometimes found it difficult to get every single word of dialog but this actually added to the authenticity of the video. I found myself moved by their plight, and feeling shivers of emotion throughout.

This stands out as an outstanding film and understand why it won an academy award. Recommended.

One of the best documentaries I've ever viewed...
When I told the librarian I wanted to see a video on coal mining, she handed me "Harlan County." I looked at the date - which indicated that the coal miners' strike featured in the movie took place in the early 1970s and I handed it back to her saying, "No, I'm interested in something with more history in it."

A few days later, I felt impelled to return to the library and get this VHS. I sat down to watch it one morning and could not turn it off. It's compelling, intriguing, educational and emotional. I cried several times, watching the struggle and learning more and more about a coal miner's life.

For the last few months, I've been doing research (in preparation for a book on Sears Homes) about Standard Oil's coal mines in Macoupin County, Illinois in the 1920s. "Harlan County" showed archival footage and presented information that showed what a miner's life looked like - through the ages. Duke Power's coal mines in Harlan County, Kentucky were so backwards and Standard Oil's coal mines in Macoupin County, Illinois were so progressive, that I learned more than I ever expected about early 1900s mining techniques.

The story about the man and the mules is something I'll never ever forget. Or the miner's conversation with the New York policeman. Thank God for the director Ms. Koppel, who was inspired to create this documentary! And for her having the wisdom and foresight to record these old miners' reminiscences of life in the coal mines in the early years of the 20th Century.

Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces from my months of book reading and research came together when I saw these old films and heard the miners talk.

I'll be watching it again and again - with my family, too. And I hope every person who uses electricity in this country will watch it, too.

An interesting aside - in the 1920s in Macoupin County, Illinois, one coal miner died (on average) for every 279,000 tons of coal that was mined. Between 1900-1969, 100,000 miners died in this country. Standard Oil's mines (operated from 1918-1925) in Macoupin County may have been the safest mines in the country, but several men died in those mines, too.

In 1918, Standard Oil of Indiana built 192 Sears Modern Homes for their (mostly immigrant) miners in Macoupin County. (The term "Modern Homes" simply meant that the houses had kitchens, bathrooms, running water, central heat and electricity.)

In 1973, Duke Power's miners in Harlan County were still living in shacks with no running water.

Rose Thornton

Real-Life Rancor
Dirt-poor miners struggle (to the death, in many cases) to unionize against the insurmountably evil coal bosses in this Oscar-winning documentary. Watch in awe (no joke) as simple men, women, and children, exemplify the true meaning of chasing the American dream. After watching "HCU," you'll never complain about YOUR job again. Ever.

Not just a strike against the Coal Operators
Not only does Ms. Kopple's work bring to the table the injustice, served daily, in Harlan, but also displays to the viewer the inner politics of powerful, present-day unions. This film should be required viewing for every Rank and File member of a Union. It should also be required viewing for all management and salaried employees. The management will say, "Good thing I got my degree and I'm not down in the hole with those redneck miners. Haw-Haw-Haw!"

The Salaried Employees will respond: I hate my job, I hate my boss, if I could kill everyone in this office, I would; NO---- Not my boss, "like the Nazis", he's only following orders. Not my co-workers---They're only doing their job and trying to lead a healthy life.

Whom then? Who do we crucify? In every management situation there is an overseer and a slave, in every salaried position, there is an overseer and a slave, AND in every rank and file position there is an overseer and slaves.

Rank and File, Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains, held by your big union and management Overseers!

Jason ... Read more

Description

This innovative film combines documentary and narrative techniques to show how the lives of American Women have changed over the past century. The film tells the story of a fictional family through it's female members, presenting the women's experiences and changing roles along the way. ... Read more

Description

This innovative film combines documentary and narrative techniques to show how the lives of American Women have changed over the past century. The film tells the story of a fictional family through it's female members, presenting the women's experiences and changing roles along the way. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Century of Women, Sexuality
This is an amazing video and should be shown to any class learning about reproduction, and or womens rights. It is an essential part of American history. ... Read more