Black Fury (film)
- May 18, 1935 (1935-05-18)
Black Fury is a 1935 American crime film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Paul Muni, Karen Morley, and William Gargan. It was adapted by Abem Finkel and Carl Erickson from the short story "Jan Volkanik" by Judge Michael A. Musmanno, and the play Bohunk by Harry R. Irving.[1] The plot is based on a historic incident during a Pennsylvania walk-out in 1929, in which John Barkowski, a striking coal miner, was beaten to death by private company police.[2]
In 1936, at the 8th Academy Awards, Muni was not officially nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, but he came in second on the basis of write-in votes, which were allowed that year.
Plot
Set in Pennsylvania coal country, the film tells the story of Joe Radek, a miner of Slavic background. Upset after an argument with his girlfriend Anna Novak, he drinks and attends a union meeting, where he acts as a catalyst to splitting the union members into radical and moderate factions; radically inclined miners decide to walk out and strike, the others led by Radek's best friend Mike Shemanski stay at work. Meanwhile, the company brings in a private police force cobbled out of thugs by a Pinkerton-type detective agency.
One night, when three drunk company cops attempt to rape Shemanski's daughter, both friends reunite in defending her honor. During the fight, Shemanski is killed by McGee, and Radek is injured and hospitalized. While he is recovering, the strike ends with no results and Shemanski's murder stays unpunished. Angry, Radek collects dynamite and provision and decides to start his own underground protest by hiding in the mine during the daytime and blowing up company property at night. His exploits draw the national attention after being reported by the media. Corrupted company cops are trying to catch Radek in the mine; he fights back with dynamite sticks and accidentally seals himself and Shemanski's murderer McGee in a mine tunnel. After an epic fight Radek emerges from the mine with subdued company policeman to deliver him to justice, and as a winner in the court of public opinion he is able to influence more favorable union contract for his mining buddies, making amends with his girlfriend as well.[1][3]
Cast
- Paul Muni as Joe Radek
- Karen Morley as Anna Novak
- William Gargan as Slim Johnson
- Barton MacLane as McGee
- John Qualen as Mike Shemanski (credited as John T. Qualen)
- J. Carrol Naish as Steve Croner (credited as J. Carroll Naish)
- Vince Barnett as Kubanda
- Tully Marshall as Tommy Poole
- Henry O'Neill as John W. Hendricks
- Joseph Crehan as Johnny Farrell (credited as Joe Crehan)
- Mae Marsh as Mrs. Mary Novak
- Sara Haden as Sophie Shemanski (credited as Sarah Haden)
- Willard Robertson as Mr. J.J. Welsh
- Effie Ellsler as Bubitschka
- Wade Boteler as Mulligan
- Egon Brecher as Alec Novak
- G. Pat Collins as Lefty, a Company Policeman (credited as George Pat Collins)
- Ward Bond as Mac, a Company Policeman
- Akim Tamiroff as Sokolsky (credited as Akin Tamiroff)
- Purnell Pratt as Henry B. Jenkins
- Eddie Shubert as Butch
Production
Pennsylvania state legislator and former coal miner Michael Musmanno acted to ban the private Coal and Iron Police after the murder of miner John Barkoski in Imperial, Pennsylvania, in 1929. Later he wrote a short story about the incident changing the name of the miner to "Jan Volkanik." Musmanno's story and the play Bohunk by Harry R. Irving (1894–1960) were adapted for the film in a screenplay written by Abem Finkel and Carl Erickson.[3] In Black Fury, John Barkoski is fictionalized as Mike Shemanski. In 1966, Musmanno published a novel version of the screenplay also named Black Fury.
Reception
Andre David Sennwald Jr. of The New York Times wrote in April 1935, "Magnificently performed by Paul Muni, it comes up taut against the censorial safety belts and tells a stirring tale of industrial war in the coal fields."[3] He described it as "the most notable American experiment in social drama since Our Daily Bread.'"[3] The film was banned in several American states as inciting social conflict.[2]
Honors
In 1936, a year in which the Academy Awards accepted write-in votes, Paul Muni came in second for Best Actor for his performance.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b Herzberg, Bob. The Left Side of the Screen: Communist and Left-Wing Ideology in Hollywood, 1929-2009. Jefferson, N. C.: McFarland, 2011, p. 42-46.
- ^ a b Robertson, James C. The Casablanca Man: The Cinema of Michael Curtiz. London: Routledge, 1993, p. 31-32.
- ^ a b c d Andre Sennwald. Movie Review: Black Fury (1935) Paul Muni in the Coal-Mine Melodrama "Black Fury," at the Strand -- "Four Hours to Kill.", The New York Times, 11 April 1935, accessed 12 September 2013.
External links
- Black Fury at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Black Fury at the TCM Movie Database
- Black Fury at IMDb
- Synopsis at AllMovie
- Still #1, #2, and #3 at gettyimages.com
- v
- t
- e
- The Last Bohemian (1912)
- Today and Tomorrow (1912)
- Captive Souls (1913)
- My Husband's Getting Married (1913)
- The Exile (1914)
- The Borrowed Babies (1914)
- The Princess in a Nightrobe (1914)
- Prisoner of the Night (1914)
- Bánk Bán (1914)
- Golddigger (1914)
- Seven of Spades (1916)
- The Strength of the Fatherland (1916)
- The Karthauzer (1916)
- The Black Rainbow (1916)
- The Wolf (1916)
- The Medic (1916)
- Mr. Doctor (1916)
- Master Zoard (1917)
- The Red Samson (1917)
- The Last Dawn (1917)
- Spring in Winter (1917)
- Tartar Invasion (1917)
- Secret of St. Job Forest (1917)
- Nobody's Son (1917)
- The Charlatan (1917)
- A Penny's History (1917)
- The Fishing Bell (1917)
- Peace's Road (1917)
- Jean the Tenant (1917)
- Earth's Man (1917)
- The Colonel (1918)
- The Merry Widow (1918)
- Magic Waltz (1918)
- A skorpió I. (1918)
- The Devil (1918)
- Lulu (1918)
- Lu, the Coquette (1918)
- Júdás (1918)
- The Ugly Boy (1918)
- Alraune (1918)
- 99-es számú bérkocsi (1918)
- The Sunflower Woman (1918)
- Liliom (1919)
- The Lady with the Black Gloves (1919)
- Boccaccio (1920)
- The Star of Damascus (1920)
- The Scourge of God (1920)
- Mrs. Tutti Frutti (1921)
- Good and Evil (1921)
- Mrs. Dane's Confession (1921)
- Labyrinth of Horror (1921)
- Sodom and Gomorrah (1922)
- Young Medardus (1923)
- Avalanche (1923)
- Nameless (1923)
- A Deadly Game (1924)
- General Babka (1924)
- Harun al Raschid (1924)
- The Moon of Israel (1924)
- Red Heels (1925)
- Cab No. 13 (1926)
- The Golden Butterfly (1926)
- The Third Degree (1926)
- A Million Bid (1927)
- The Desired Woman (1927)
- Good Time Charley (1927)
- Tenderloin (1928)
- Noah's Ark (1928)
- Glad Rag Doll (1929)
- Madonna of Avenue A (1929)
- The Gamblers (1929)
- Hearts in Exile (1929)
- Mammy (1930)
- Under a Texas Moon (1930)
- The Matrimonial Bed (1930)
- Bright Lights (1930)
- A Soldier's Plaything (1930)
- River's End (1930)
- Demon of the Sea (1931)
- God's Gift to Women (1931)
- The Mad Genius (1931)
- The Woman from Monte Carlo (1932)
- Alias the Doctor (1932)
- The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932)
- Doctor X (1932)
- The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
- 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)
- Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
- The Keyhole (1933)
- Private Detective 62 (1933)
- Goodbye Again (1933)
- The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
- Female (1933)
- Mandalay (1934)
- Jimmy the Gent (1934)
- The Key (1934)
- British Agent (1934)
- The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)
- Black Fury (1935)
- Front Page Woman (1935)
- Little Big Shot (1935)
- Captain Blood (1935)
- The Walking Dead (1936)
- The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
- Stolen Holiday (1937)
- Mountain Justice (1937)
- Kid Galahad (1937)
- The Perfect Specimen (1937)
- Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
- Four's a Crowd (1938)
- Four Daughters (1938)
- Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
- Dodge City (1939)
- Daughters Courageous (1939)
- The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
- Four Wives (1939)
- Virginia City (1940)
- The Sea Hawk (1940)
- Santa Fe Trail (1940)
- The Sea Wolf (1941)
- Dive Bomber (1941)
- Captains of the Clouds (1942)
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
- Casablanca (1942)
- Mission to Moscow (1943)
- This Is the Army (1943)
- Passage to Marseille (1944)
- Janie (1944)
- Roughly Speaking (1945)
- Mildred Pierce (1945)
- Night and Day (1946)
- Life with Father (1946)
- The Unsuspected (1947)
- Romance on the High Seas (1948)
- My Dream Is Yours (1949)
- Flamingo Road (1949)
- The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949)
- Young Man with a Horn (1950)
- Bright Leaf (1950)
- The Breaking Point (1950)
- Force of Arms (1951)
- Jim Thorpe – All-American (1951)
- I'll See You in My Dreams (1951)
- The Story of Will Rogers (1952)
- The Jazz Singer (1952)
- Trouble Along the Way (1953)
- The Boy from Oklahoma (1954)
- The Egyptian (1954)
- White Christmas (1954)
- We're No Angels (1955)
- The Scarlet Hour (1956)
- The Vagabond King (1956)
- The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956)
- The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
- The Proud Rebel (1958)
- King Creole (1958)
- The Hangman (1959)
- The Man in the Net (1959)
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)
- A Breath of Scandal (1960)
- Francis of Assisi (1961)
- The Comancheros (1961)
- Jön az öcsém (1919)
- Sons of Liberty (1939)
- Bright Lights (1935)