NFR Project: ‘Men and Dust’
Dir: Lee Dick
Scr: Sheldon Dick
Pho: Sheldon Dick
Ed: Jules Bucher
Premiere: 1940
16 min.
Men and Dust is a short documentary made by the wife-and-husband team of Lee and Sheldon Dick. It focuses on the plight of zinc and lead miners in the tri-state region of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas.
The documentary is left-leaning, advocating the fair and compassionate treatment of workers, their wives, and children, all who suffer from lung diseases such as silicosis and tuberculosis due to the accumulation of dust – in the mines themselves and the slag piles that dominate the landscape around the mines.
The documentary uses a quartet of narrative voices that outlines the problems the miners face, all while touting the ubiquity of the products that result from their labor. This somewhat sardonic approach sits side by side with frank pictures of ailing people, underlining the relationship between their suffering and the profit made from the mining companies’ products.
The film received viewings, not in theaters, but in town halls, union meetings, and private homes. As a tool of advocacy, it is far ahead of its time.
The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: The Philadelphia Story.
No comments:
Post a Comment