not horrible nor great

From my favorite movies..

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

"One of the Hollywood Ten" attempts to tell two fascinating stories: one about writer/director Herbert Biberman and the other about the filming of "Salt of the Earth." This film could not have had a very big budget, and the direction is not very good, so how anyone expected to accomplish these massive feats is anyone's guess.I am at a disadvantage: I can't possibly write anything that can compare to the comments about this film posted on IMDb, and I haven't seen Salt of the Earth. I did, however, grow up amidst the Red Scare. We in Catholic schools were warned by the nuns that the commies were coming. They would hold guns to our heads, ask us our religion, and when we answered "Catholic" (like we were all going to be real anxious to do that), we'd be shot. Communism was going to destroy the world, there were Communists under every bed, and everybody was insane on the subject. I have read and seen a good deal on HUAC, the McCarthy hearings, and Red Channels. Am I an expert? No.I will reference a couple of the IMDb postings. One states that Gale Sondergaard was NOT a major actress and that Biberman was a minor writer. I'm unsure of the implication the poster was trying to make, but I venture to say that if Biberman and Sondergaard (who were married for 40 years, until Biberman's death in 1971) had been allowed to work for the next 20 years or so, who knows what might have happened to their careers? This insanity ruined lives.Another poster made a comparison to tactics used by today's government. Well, I'll second that emotion. As he states, freedom of speech is not to be taken lightly. No, it isn't. And if anyone believes there isn't a move afoot to squelch it today, they're wrong.Others mentioned inaccuracies. I'll bring up one. According to writer Patricia Bosworth, whose father, attorney Bartley Crum, defended the Hollywood Ten, the "Hollywood Ten" were not friends, and in fact, many of them did not know one another. Crum advised them all to tell the truth at the hearings -- that when asked if they were now or had been a member of the Communist party, to disarm the committee by answering truthfully. This was shot down by whomever their adviser was because asking about anyone's political leadings is unconstitutional, and the Ten wanted to fight the hearings on constitutional grounds. In the film, one got the impression they were all friends. Crum, by the way, labeled a subversive, was haunted by the FBI until he finally got rid of them by killing himself in 1959. Also, I know this is off topic a bit, but the FBI's largest file was on Frank Sinatra, who was believed to have been sent by the communists to influence the youth of America. Great group.As far as this film, the stories were interesting, the direction was detached, and overall, it's not great. Jeff Goldblum is marvelous as Biberman, and there are some other excellent performances as well. I think the most important thing were the points made on the chirons at the end, one of which is that Salt of the Earth is the only film ever to be blacklisted. I am so grateful that it was; otherwise, we would all be communists today. Right.

I saw this movie on the Starz channel. I'd never heard of it. I watched it because I thought that Jeff Goldblum, being a star, would pick good projects. This movie is one of his poorer choices.Theres not much I can say about this film other than it was boring and preachy in a very amateurish kind of way, with B-movie style dialogue and unconvincing performances.I walked away from watching this mess not giving a hoot or a holler about the Hollywood Ten, Salt of the Earth, the Blacklist and above all this dreadful "student" film.In fact I hope I never hear about it ever, ever again!

(Hopefully there are no spoilers, but I'm not sure and may let something slip)After watching this film several times, I cannot imagine why it was not presented in theaters. It is an engrossing film set in an era that shames America and her reputation as a free nation. It is set during the cold war when the government was seeing reds under everyones bed. Jeff Goldblum is wonderful as Herb. The whole cast is very good. This film points out how while the government was out hunting Communist, they were behaving exactly like the Communist they were so worried about and feared.Everyone should view this film. It could happen again. Freedom of speech should not be taken lightly.

Movie buffs and DeNiro fans will recall "Guilty By Suspicion". A story of how the HUAC witch hunts of the 1950s ripped apart the lives of many of Hollywood's writing and directing talent. Newcomer Karl Francis's movie treads along similar lines, focusing in on blacklisted director Herbert Biberman's attempt to make "Salt of the Earth" with a cast of unknowns and a blacklisted crew. Without spoiling this movie for the unacquainted I will end this synopsis here......however.... This is a European film, partially backed by the Welsh Arts Council. With all the talent and longing for local film production in the UK, why would the Arts Council plough money into an old pair of panty-linen like this? An American story shot entirely in Spain with a cast mainly of unknown actors. Jeff Goldblum does well, as ever, as Biberman....but so what? Most of the dialogue is so thin and hackneyed you could smell the dampness. I would suggest that the BBC or the Arts Council of Great Britain in future put their money where they'll find an audience and possibly a return on their investment, which I am sorry to say will not be happening with this boring mis-directed edsel.