Harlan County U.S.A.
1977 · 103 MIN · IMDB 8.2 · 6,962 VOTES · DIR. Barbara Kopple
Overview
This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. 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. 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. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.
Dialogue Timeline — 1,670 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:13 Fire in the hole!
00:07:05 they was the enemy.
00:10:54 when they tell us that we can't have the union of our choice...
00:14:59 So why wouldn't the coal operators be satisfied?
00:19:50 #And listen to a story #
00:23:51 The laws are not made for the working people in this country.
00:27:49 #And we're not about to lose #
00:31:09 we've been shot at, we've had dynamite throwed at us...
00:35:24 # Where 78 miners were burned alive #
00:39:35 have any resulting impairment of pulmonary function...
00:43:25 That's how many terms I want, until I'm 180 years of age!"
00:47:45 - Peabody.! - Peabody Coal Company.
00:52:02 He's a-cruisin'around here now, goin'up and down...
00:56:50 They shot about 16 times last night. Knocked me out of bed.
01:01:12 And I know everybody's disappointed we don't have a bigger crowd...
01:05:31 said, "I want you to get that nigger. You hear that nigger? Get that nigger".
01:09:07 - It's that simple.
01:13:22 - and get my men to work, I'll come into town. - Yeah.
01:17:15 #So let's come out for the union #
01:21:59 and they gets to say what they think, and we hide behind the goddamn car.
01:26:52 'Cause Harlan County will be U.M. W.A. coal.
01:30:33 And, uh, these strikes are strikes that are won from below.
01:35:03 Everybody was under the impression, when Miller was elected, that he was the man for the job.
01:39:17 that they'd start up $50.