My greatest delight in this film was how articulate and intelligent the miners and their wives were; textbook English is far inferior to their language. It should be seen by every American, a devastating document of corruption, assassination, gunplay, music and most of all heroism, especially by the women of eastern Kentucky in the coalminers' fight for a contract with the Duke Power Company aka Duke Energy. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Live footage of miners at union meetings, confrontations between picketers and scab workers (and gun- carrying company men accompanying them) was supplemented with a lot of Appalachian-miner songs, and some national … And all while the fat cat executives got fatter. View production, box office, & company info. Harlan County is a county located in southeastern Kentucky.As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,278. A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor. Harlan County USA (128)IMDb 8.31 h 44 min1976PG Barbara Kopple's Academy Award-winning Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners' strike in a small Kentucky town. Select the department you want to search in. The strike breakers have the full support of the law. Harlan County, USA is one of the greatest documentaries ever made. Harlan County U.S.A. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners’ sometimes violent struggles with … Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2019. A sensational film that feels like a time capsule in today’s viewings, but is … Riveting, Compelling, Heartbreaking Documentary, Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2012. A documentary about a pet cemetery in California, and the people who have pets buried there. However, I still was moved by this film as much as I have ever beeen moved by a movie. When this strike happened I was overseas and the event escaped my notice until just now. Travelling or based outside United States? In 1911, the family moved from Bell County to Harlan County, where Mr. Whitfield established the Clover Fork Coal Company in Kitts. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners’ sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. 18 of 23 people found this review helpful. Barbara Kopple's 1976 documentary "Harlan County USA" remains one of the finest portraits of the struggle between faceless and greedy corporations and the employees who work themselves to the bone to eke out a living. In 1903, A. F. Whitfield packed up his family and moved from Walker County, Alabama, to southeastern Kentucky. Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2015. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. What it must have been like in the 30's defies imagination.Excellent music score too. A historic documentary of American mineworkers' strike for improved conditions. The ugly side of America that you don’t see. This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Shows what it was like with the bosses and their thuggish henchmen,only difference with UK our bosses had policemen.Very well made. A fascinating insight into events in Harlan County. A startling and courageous landmark documentary that unflinchingly confronted the United States' involvement in Vietnam at the height of the controversy that surrounded it. Four dogged door-to-door Bible salesmen travel from Boston to Florida on a seemingly futile quest to sell luxury editions of the Good Book to working-class Catholics. My Dad owned a small independent mine for a period but was forced out of business by union miners who threatened his leased truckers to the point that they refused to transport his coal over Pine Mountain to the railroad. 67 talking about this. Documentary covering Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England, which includes appearances by Joan Baez and Donovan. My grandfather is the man in the orange hat close to the end of the movie who placed his car on the tracks and would not let the “scabs” pass. ‘Coup 53,’ ‘Desert One’ Film Reviews: Documentaries on Iran Offer Troubled History Lessons, It’s Time for Documentaries to Be Seriously Considered for Oscar’s Best Picture Category, Doc NYC: Barbara Kopple on Her True Crime Tale, A Murder in Mansfield, Sight & Sound: Greatest Documentaries of All Time, Self - Pres., Eastover Mining Co. (Owned by Duke Power). Harlan County, USA By Randy Haberkamp Oscar’s Docs, 1964–85: The Front Lines at Home and Abroad program notes, 2011 Reprinted by permission of the author and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “I’m a politician first, a filmmaker second,” said Barbara Kopple during the release of her first documentary feature film, “Harlan Was this review helpful to you? Today there is a ball field and park where these houses used to stand. The film has its faults. Few documentaries today have the immediacy, intensity, or militant appeal of this Oscar-winning film, an edge-of-your-seat tribute to a courageous group of hard hats and their families. Extremely moving and inspiring for anyone with social interests. A documentary following Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old WW2 veteran notorious for his protests against Emperor Hirohito, as he tries to expose the needless executions of two Japanese soldiers during the war. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed ), memorial page for Dayle Wilbur Booher (24 Feb 1916–8 Feb 2000), Find a Grave Memorial no. Filmed between 1973 and 1974, Kopple's groundbreaking work gets up close and personal with the downtrodden rural miners, who are deprived of fair wages and insurance, and forced to shop at the company store. Shows what it was like with the bosses and their thuggish henchmen, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2015. Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2008. Striking miners fighting for the right to belong to a trade union. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line. Its county seat is Dallas, which is also the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest city in the United States. This is one of the 100 greatest movies ever made. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2015, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2009. Filmmaker Jesse Moss considers Harlan County, USA to be the high-water mark of documentary filmmaking. 108586643, citing Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA ; … The public information contained herein is furnished as a public service by Harlan County. Although realistic dramas still attracted mass audiences—as evidenced by Dog Day … Barbara Kopple was ground breaking and extremely talented. A film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas. Old photos, stories and facts about the nations most talked about small town - Harlan County USA! Although these miners today have no union, the mines of Harlan County have a storied history of grassroots labor militancy. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. During my youth the third most profitable industry was moonshine, now its pot. A black girl from Senegal becomes a servant in France. This fantastic documentary captured open class war in the coalfields as it happened. | Photograph shows interior of the Harlan County courthouse, Harlan, Kentucky, with bench, gavel, well-worn judge's chair, ceiling fan, and row of chairs. Miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, have drawn national attention with their direct action— occupying a railroad track to halt a coal train until the miners get paid the wages they are owed for digging it up. You can see that influence all over Boys State, the new documentary that Moss directed with his wife and frequent collaborator, Amanda McBaine.The film is a masterful piece of observational, verité cinema. 12th Annual AAFCA Awards to be Held April 7th. Organizing in mines in Harlan County had been very bloody in the 1930’s and achieved small progress, which in the ensuing 40 years was no doubt eradicated by inflation. He was speaking with the sheriff... so sad it didn’t show his precious little face!!! Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2019. Harlan County USA Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award–winning Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town. It happens to be a documentary, but the story is as stirring and suspenseful as any Hollywood thriller. Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2019. 8:30 am - 4:30 pm. 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. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners' sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Written by This is a must see documentary for anyone interested in making documentaries or learning about the history of America. Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2007. The film deals with a coal miner's strike in a small Kentucky town during the early 70s. about 11 hours ago The Unloved, Part 88: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Barbara Kopple caught it all on film. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Chronicles the six-month strike at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, in 1985-86. Video availability outside of United States varies. Barbara Kopple’s Oscar winning film is a record of Kentucky coal miners on strike with demands to get unionized. Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2020. 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 Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky in 1973. Check out our editors' picks for the movies and shows we're excited about this month, like Mortal Kombat, "Them," and Stowaway. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. I was born in Harlan County but escaped to spend a career in the US Air Force. Phenomenal!!! (1973 image from "Harlan County USA") View of the Brookside camp with the tipple in the background. Use the HTML below. Old photos, stories and facts about the nations most talked about small town - Harlan County USA! The local union, P-9 of the Food and Commercial Workers, overwhelmingly rejects a contract offer with a $2/hour ... See full summary ». See this as quickly as you can. Sign in to see videos available to you. The UMW is a shadow of its former self. Barbara Kopple's Academy Award-winning Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners' strike in a small Kentucky town. Everything she does is filled with emotion that clearly tells a story and in this case, the plight of underpaid miners who risked their health and very lives to earn a meager living to support their families. In the summer 1973, the coal miners working at the Brookside Mine, located in Brookside, Harlan County, Kentucky and owned by the Eastover Coal Company, voted to join the union, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), against the wishes of Eastover administrators. Militant miners forced into battle against the advance of the bosses were pitted against an array of scabs, snipers, thugs, and the armed forces of the state. The results are there for all with eyes to see. My family lived through this!!! From Wings to Parasite, here's a look back at all of the Best Picture Oscar winners in the history of the ceremony. It was the dawn of the blockbuster age: the buzz around Jaws had barely receded, and Star Wars loomed on the horizon. This is how it should be done, and lord if only all such struggles resolved thusly. Add the first question. Harlan County USA is an actual drama observed, recorded and edited in to a powerful statement that meets the criteria of what a documentary should be. Harlan County USA 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. Lois Scott for president. Possibly the finest documentary I have seen and I've seen quite a few. It’s every bit as engrossing as Harlan County – although the stakes of … Barbara Kopple's Harlan County, USA was one of the most important and powerful political documentaries of the 1970s, a startling and compelling look at a bitter coal miner's strike in Kentucky in the early '70s, and this DVD release of the film from The Criterion Collection treats Kopple's work like the masterpiece it is. Parents need to know that Harlan County, USA is a riveting and intense 1976 documentary chronicling a 13-month miners' strike in eastern Kentucky that shows violent altercations between strikers and union-busters, as well as the funeral of a murdered striker where family members are expressing deep shock and sorrow. Poverty, hopelessness and addiction have swept through to fill the void. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Watching this movie makes my previous semi-respectful estimation of Michael Moore's self-love evaporate. Harlan Courthouse Address. (1973 image from "Harlan County USA") At least a portion of the idled colliery that still exists at Brookside was there when Brookside was an Eastover Mining property. Dallas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The Clover Fork … Location Title: The map, all associated data, and measurements are approximate and not to be used for any official purpose. Late last year, I was invited to Lincoln Center in New York City to attend the premiere of a restored edition of the 1976 film “Harlan County, USA.” The original film print had begun to deteriorate, and an organization called the Women’s Film Preservation Fund had taken on the job of saving this American classic. "Harlan County, USA" is real-life drama of the highest order. I do remember the absolute poverty of the coal camps but they were no worse than lumber camps or the homes of many who worked for neither. Today the coal fields are in shambles. Exemplary on how a filmmaker can involve herself, be in everybody's face, get every little thing on camera, but be testifying instead of exploiting. Meet a mother and daughter, high-society dropouts, reclusive cousins of Jackie O., managing to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, NY, mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot. The bosses are wrangling out the last profits through acquisitions, bankruptcies and the court supported abandonment of retired miners. Great documentary, focused on one miners strike in the 1970s, Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2014, This is a Criterion Collection release which I think will mainly interest history buffs, as it is a discrete slice of American history. Harlan County, U.S.A. (2006) Rated NR 103 minutes Produced and directed by Barbara Kopple; Latest blog posts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,368,139. The best documentary I've seen. This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Documentary. The coal miners of Harlan County Kentucky want to unionise and their employers are not happy about it. Harlan County, USA Barbara Kopple spent thirteen months living and breathing the dust of a brutal coal strike. One of my fav documentaries. HARLAN COUNTY, USA, Barbara Kopple’s feature length film about a coal miners’ strike in Kentucky, is the best U.S. documentary in a long time. A documentary of the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign and the organization who ran it. 14 talking about this. Fascinating story. All assessment information was collected for the purpose of developing the annual Property Tax Roll as provided for in Chapter 77 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes. Contributor: Dow, Jim Date: 1974 Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Phone (308) 928-2173 (Clerk's Office) Hours. Common Sense Note. Watch this documentary for a glimpse of what is possible when workers organize and fight. Its editing is ragged; its narrative structure is confusing and begins to unravel towards the end. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. The current popularity and cultural importance of documentaries would have been inconceivable in 1976, when Harlan County USA briefly ignited commercial movie screens. 706 W 2nd St Alma, NE 68920. God bless those who work the mines. HARLAN COUNTY, USA is an Oscar-winning documentary about a 13-month strike between coal miners and the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in eastern Kentucky in 1973 and 1974. Life has not progressed in Harlan County today as it has in other parts of the US; in fact, during my last visit I thought that it was worse than when I was a child helping Dad at his mine (early 1950s.) Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Out of it came this groundbreaking documentary. It is the second-most populous county in Texas and the ninth-most populous in the United States. One of my fav documentaries. (1976). Martin Lewison . Harlan County court house 1 photographic print : color. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. 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