People Before Profit blog

Ideology in crime mysteries: dapper detectives vs. working PIs

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 17:40:00 +0000

"A great mystery should take 'the lid off life and let [you] look at the works'"

- Sam Spade, The Maltese Falcon

"The 'law' belongs both to the (repressive) state apparatus and to the system of the ideological state apparatuses"

- Louis Althusser, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses

Ernest Mandel once took time out from his 2,000+ pieces on the economics of long wave capitalist development to note that detectives came from a variety of occupational backgrounds - but with the large exceptions of industrial workers and farmers - "largely because these people do not have the leisure time to be detectives."

Indeed, for many years, the vast majority of fictional detectives were gentlemen and gentlewomen. They generally used the power of deduction and clue collection to solve crimes (most often murders.) Lord Peter Wimsey, Albert Campion, Roderick Alleyn, Miss Marple, Mr. Satterthwaite, and the great Sherlock Holmes didn't spend their time in the golden age of mystery drinking with longshoreman and textile workers in Europe to uncover the social conditions that led to the crime happening in the first place (Holmes did occasionally consult with the working class Baker Street Irregular street kids, though not as frequently as the lore often implies.) Sometimes, these "dapper detectives" even solved the mysteries for free, as an intellectual exercise to satisfy their intense curiosity about "who done it?" Several of these characters had fictional aristocratic backgrounds and educations from elite private universities such as Cambridge.

Again, Mandel: "The original detective stories, then, were highly formalized and far removed from realism and literary naturalism. But more than that, they were not really concerned with crimes as such. The crime was a framework for a problem to be solved, a puzzle to be put together...The real subject of the early detective stories is thus not crime or murder but enigma. The problem is analytical, not social or juridical."

In the era of the pulp magazines, and the novels that followed them, this began to change. As Raymond Chandler wrote in the essay "The Simple Art of Murder" regarding pulp author turned novelist Dashiell Hammett:

"[Hammett] took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley...Hammett wrote...for people with a sharp, aggressive attitude to life. They were not afraid of the seamy side of things; they lived there. Violence did not dismay them; it was right down their street. Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people who commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse...He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used."

And as the American and international labor movement became stronger during the Great Depression, more and more private eyes were described as workers...maybe because their often struggling pulp authors felt like that as well. The new "hard boiled" detectives like Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe talked like ordinary people talked; they didn't usually get along with the official police; and they often resented wealthy suspects and even their wealthy employers as they worked for their daily fee plus expense checks.

Hammett (a member of the Communist Party who was jailed in the McCarthy era) and Chandler were the premier writers of this genre. Hammett's brilliant first book Red Harvest may have been the most explicitly pro-working class of his novels in its conceit. Originally published in four parts for the pulp magazine Black Mask, Red Harvest includes a story of a strike breaking industrialist who sees his town being taken over by rival gangsters - the very gangsters he had invited into town to break the Industrial Workers of the World. The majority of the story includes his Continental Op cleaning up the town, but the radical kernel was that the town never would have needed to be cleaned up if not for the corruption of a big industrialist politician to begin with.

But the hard-boiled detective started to shift after the popular front and Allied countries were separated by an Iron Curtain. Private Investigator Mike Hammer became a favorite of political reactionaries including author Mickey Spillane's friend Ayn Rand (and current graphic novelist Frank Miller, both of whom probably appreciated the black and white morality of the Hammer novels.)

A problem with the more cliché-ridden view of the "hard boiled" tough guy detective is to miss the strong nuanced ethical system that Hammett's Spade or Chandler's Marlowe possessed, jumping right to Mike Hammer and embracing the simplicity as a fascistic tough guy medley/pastiche. Mike Hammer didn't get in trouble with the police because they viewed him as a threat to their jobs like the earlier detectives, but because he would enforce the law through his own violence, which later, as we will see, repeats itself several times in the movies and television. And Hammer was also a brutal misogynist and red baiter, moving quickly against the dual post war threats of empowered women and Communists dating back to the unique circumstances of the war.

And today, you often see a lot of generic "crime first" mystery novels at any paperback book store or on The New York Times best seller list. These stories are frequently ideologically blank and devoid of meaningful acknowledgment of class and focused on forensics and pop psychology (Patricia Cornwell and James Patterson) or of a conservative law and order bent (Tom Clancy) - and solidly entrenched in the aesthetics of the American middle brow. But there is another trend in the detective genres - that of globalization. From South Los Angeles to Sicily to southern France, there is a return to some of the progressive tendencies from the hard-boiled era of pulp.

Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series may be the definitive of these more diverse, international, modern group of detectives, which is especially interesting since the books are set in the 1940s-1960s Los Angeles and have such an attention to local period detail. But Mosley, himself an outspoken progressive and socialist, gives great agency to Rawlins to navigate the contours of race and class. And much like Chandler's stories, the details of the actual crime are often an excuse for a journey through colorful language and metaphor, though Mosley brings an added element of more intellectual oriented social criticism to his series. For example, his Red Scarlet is at least as effective and intriguing as an expert exploration of the Watts riot as it is a murder mystery.

Grace F. Edwards's Mail Anderson is also similar to Rawlins in that she takes on a role as sort of the "neighborhood's detective," working outside of police officialdom, sort of a hybrid detective-community organizer who hangs out at barber shops, beauty shops, and bars to solve problems by listening to the people.

Jean-Claude Izzo's Marseilles Trilogy sees a police detective leave the force because of its deep corruption and racism to take on the mob (and their political allies in Marseilles) on his own terms as part of the "Mediterranean Noir" genre.

And in a similar way, Andrea Camirelli (like Hammett, a former Communist Party member, though also with a rich artistic background as would fit an Italian intellectual) uses his Inspector Montalbano series to dump the metaphor of Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Hammett's Red Harvest to directly show how the political corruption and gangsterism of Sicily effect life for a police captain there. His Montalbano is a realistic cynic, but like in the best traditions of Spade and Marlowe, he uses plain language (Sicilian and Italian, which is lost in translation though thankfully there are good end notes to explain some of the unique turns of phrase.) He is a loose cannon, but does not exact vengeance. He's the ideal protagonist for an author that has a stated goal of tying his crime novels back to "the economic, political, and social context in which they occur...I deliberately decided to smuggle into a detective novel a critical commentary on my times."

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán was a founding figure of the "Mediterranean noir" genre and his 1981 Murder in the Central Committee features his inspector, Pepe Carvahlo, as the ideal investigator as someone who had worked for both the Communist Party and the CIA. This seems to perfectly encapsulate both the moral grayness and the experience of the political left in the Mediterranean noir genre.

Carvahlo is indeed likely channeling his creator when he remarks "Rich people with a guilty conscience seem to be a thing of the past" - a frequently voiced concern among the diverse left-influenced writers of the crime genres.

Photo: Books by Dashiell Hammett who is credited with creating the hardboiled detective genre. (via Crime Scraps Review)

Oscar and Progies: view of movies from left side of the aisle

Tue, 25 Feb 2014 15:25:00 +0000

Join People's World film critic Bill Meyer tonight via Google+ for a conversation on movies and social change.

Whether Oscar or Progie-nominated or not, film around the world is a powerful medium for social justice. What films and documentaries this past year are must sees? Bring your popcorn and let's talk movies.

Watch the video below at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight to see the live streaming broadcast, right here in this article:

Join us Tuesday for an Oscar Night with People's World

Fri, 21 Feb 2014 16:34:00 +0000

Join us for a conversation on Hollywood, the Oscars, and alternative voices in film on Tuesday, Feb. 25. We will be having a discussion with film critic Bill Meyer and others. Who are the nominees? What is a progressive view of Hollywood film? In a year with so many stellar performances in, and directors of Black-themed movies that deserved Oscar attention, why did they go ignored?

Let's look at some of what might be discussed in the upcoming teleconference!

First, who are the nominees? Check out some contenders: http://www.peoplesworld.org/families-react-to-tragedy-in-august-osage-county-and-nebraska/

Second, what's considered a progressive view of Hollywood film? Read this article: http://www.peoplesworld.org/black-themed-films-lead-progie-nominations/

And what about the well done Black-themed films that deserve attention? Take a look: http://www.peoplesworld.org/hollywood-doesn-t-recognize-complexity-of-black-life/

Bring your popcorn and join in on the discussion! Hear about your favorites and share your predictions.

Oscar Night with People's World

Tuesday, February 25

8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

Call (605) 475-4850

Dial 1053538# when you hear the prompt

You can also RSVP on Facebook

Today in black history: Happy birthday Toni Morrison

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:33:00 +0000

On February 18, 1931 author Toni Morrison was born

Morrison was the first African-American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Morrison was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Lorain, Ohio to Ramah and George Wofford.

As a child she was an avid reader and cites Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy as her favorite authors. The award winning novelist was also told folk tales by her father, which would later influence her writing style.

She received a B.A. in English from Howard University in 1949 and a Masters of Arts in 1955 from Cornell University.

Morrison began writing fiction while attending Howard, writing a short story about a black girl who longed to have blue eyes. The short story would later become the basis for her debut novel "The Bluest Eye" published in 1970.

In 1987 her novel "Beloved" became a critical success. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the American Book Award. "Beloved" was be adapted into a film in 1998 starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.

In 1993, Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and is currently the last American to be so honored.

Go see Duke Ellington’s sweet, tangy “Queenie Pie”

Fri, 14 Feb 2014 11:48:00 +0000

Tunes by Duke Ellington (1899-1974), such as "It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing," "Sophisticated Lady," "Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me," "Solitude," "Mood Indigo," and "Satin Doll" have long been fixtures of the American songbook.

Another prominent side of Edward Kennedy Ellington's oeuvre reveals the composer's fascination with "Négritude," the essential nature of African blackness in all its multi-hued, intercontinental shades. How could this not be from the composer of "Black, Brown and Beige," "Creole Rhapsody," "Black and Tan Fantasy," "A Rhapsody of Negro Life," and the famous Sacred Concerts he composed to exalt the close connection between Black American culture and the Christian church.

Yet Ellington largely rejected the term "jazz." Rather, he preferred to call what he wrote simply "American music."

One of the most versatile figures in music of the 20^th century (did you know he scored the film Anatomy of a Murder?), Ellington has been the subject of numerous biographies, documentaries, festivals, revues, and concerts. He is also the first black person to appear solo on a United States circulating coin (the quarter recognizing the District of Columbia in the states series).

Most people probably do not know, though, that from the 1930s on, when he held high the banner of the Harlem Renaissance from his perch at the Cotton Club, Ellington worked intermittently, all the way up to his death in 1974, on an opera. But he didn't complete this extended stage piece, and it was never staged during his lifetime.

Queenie Pie took shape around a figure modeled on Madam C. J. Walker, a Harlem beautician whose hair straightener and other cosmetic products made her a fortune. In the years since Ellington's passing, numerous versions of the opera have appeared: 1986 in Philadelphia and Washington (the Duke's hometown), 1993 in Brooklyn, 2008 in Oakland, and 2009 in Austin. Several musicologists and arrangers have had their way with Ellington's sketches and notes for the opera, which amounted to no more than 45 minutes' worth of music.

The newest iteration of the opera just had a brief run at the Long Beach Opera in Los Angeles County, this time using a fresh arrangement for Big Band by Marc Bolin and Jeffrey Lindberg. The production is scheduled to be seen at the Chicago Opera Theater, starting Feb. 15. The co-production was facilitated by the fact that Andreas Mitisek serves as artistic and general director of both companies.

Let us quickly dispose of the question, Is Queenie Pie a true opera? Yes, if you accept that Porgy and Bess is an opera, also productions of such works as Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, or The Mikado in the opera house, or theatrical stagings of works originally written as oratorios. Definitions are fluid. But no, perhaps it's not an opera in the sense that its length is fleshed out with a pastiche of other Ellington material, such as the familiar "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart." It does not possess the solidly thought-through quality a unitary piece might have shown if Ellington had ever single-mindedly sat down to complete the project on his own.

Nevertheless, what a wallop Queenie Pie packs! A couple of hours of that sweet, tangy, bold, brassy Big Band sound, expertly led by Jeffrey Lindberg, artistic director of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, alone would have you smiling and tapping your toes from the first downbeat. And then the production features a cast of terrific theater and concert hall veterans such as the luscious Karen Marie Richardson in the titular role, suave Keithon Gipson as her longtime straying lover, Jeffrey Polk in a comic character role, and the sensuous Anna Bowen as Miss Café O'Lay. Great dancing infuses the whole evening.

Café O'Lay, a Louisiana Creole who brings her pale skin to Harlem with her gospel of lightening as the key to beauty and advancement in the Black world, represents Queenie Pie's challenge and foil. Here Ellington focuses his attention on this old conundrum in Black American life, the "privilege" of lighter skin. The second act, set on a mystical magic island that produces the rare plant, the "fleurette Africaine" for eternal youth and beauty, resolves the conflict between the two ladies with gentle pan-Africanist implications.

Performances by the Chicago Opera Theater are scheduled for February 15, 21 and 23, and March 5.

Contact information:

Box Office at 312-704-8414

www.chicagooperatheater.org.

Photo: Karen Marie Richardson as "Queenie Pie." Chicago Opera Theater Facebook page

We Shall Be Free!: Black Communist Protest in Seven Voices

Wed, 12 Feb 2014 14:20:00 +0000

In his preface to We Shall Be Free!: Black Communist Protest in Seven Voices Walter T. Howard writes that he hopes to "break new ground in the scholarship of the African American left ... [by] address[ing] a particular need to give voice to black Communists and to respect the intellectual contributions found in their protest writings."

The seven voices presented are from the well known African American Communist Party USA leaders B.D Amis, Harry Haywood, James W. Ford, Benjamin J. Davis, Louise Thompson Patterson, William L. Patterson and Claudia Jones.

Upon opening We Shall Be Free! and diving into the unique, historically specific contributions, I felt a little lost, though. While Howard does provide a brief biographical introduction prior to each "voice," he doesn't provide historical context regarding why certain articles, essays and/or speeches were selected or what they meant to the larger political landscape and time. They seem random.

It may seem like a small point, but historical context would have added significantly to Howard's presentation of African American Communist voices. As is, their voices are largely without context, seemingly lost and isolated. This is, in my opinion, the only shortcoming of We Shall Be Free!.

In Howard's book we see - over time - the evolution of the party's approach, its strategy and tactics, as it experimented with different organizational forms in its efforts to recruit African Americans and to build the black liberation and African American equality movements. This is probably one of the most important aspects of this collection of voices.

For example, let's first look at B.D. Amis and then James W. Ford. Amis, general secretary of The League of Struggle for Negro Rights, repeatedly refers to the NAACP, as well as Black church leaders, for example, as "Negro misleaders," whom we should have "absolutely ignored," as we would have built a "more genuine mass movement" without them.

While context would have placed this opinion within a specific historical moment, his voice still illuminates - when coupled with the other voices - an emerging and evolving Communist perspective.

Written as a speech for the Thirteenth Plenum of the CPUSA, in September 1931, Amis' opinions would eventually be at odds with those of other African American leaders, like James W. Ford, who just five short years later would help found and build the National Negro Congress. The NNC would eventually become a broad federation of over 3,000 civic, religious and fraternal organizations - like the NAACP, the Urban League and hundreds of Black churches and fraternities - and ultimately become, as Gerald Horne points out, the "embodiment" of CPUSA popular front politics.

However, without context, this history is confused and muddled. Was Amis at odds with the larger CPUSA perspective? Did his perspective change and evolve along with other CPUSA policies?

Ford, a founder of the National Negro Congress, held a completely different perspective than Amis. Ford even went so far as to encourage party members to work with Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association, in spite of its separatist views.

According to Ford, Garvey and the party are "both agreed that black men should be freed from the domination of imperialists in Africa and throughout the world. We both agree that Mussolini's fascist hordes should be driven from Ethiopia ...," therefore, he said, the party and Garvey should work together.

Ford gave this analogy: "Those who argue against unity of action NOW are in the position of the man who would not accept the help of his friend in moving furniture from his burning house because the friend wanted to advise WHERE the furniture should go LATER."

Furthermore, Ford asserted, as a result of the party's evolution towards popular front unity, communists "have not only been in advance of all sections of the population" in the struggle for African American equality, "but for a long time were pretty much alone in it ..." As a result, "[T]he Negro people have acquired a profound appreciation" for the Communist Party.

Probably one of the most illuminating, if often neglected, African American voices is that of Louise Thompson Patterson. An excerpt from Chapter 5 of her unpublished memoirs is included in We Shall Be Free!, and it wonderfully gives us a glimpse of Louise Patterson's many contributions, while she worked for the International Labor Defense, the International Workers' Order and the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners.

"Well my work for the IWO was akin to the labor movement," Louise Patterson writes. "[W]e were interested in working with workers and giving them the benefits of our program." The IWO was, as Arthur J. Sabin points out, a "highly successful, financially stable insurance company" attacked in court and eventually dismantled due to its association with the CPUSA.

Louise Patterson told the IWO, which had included "16 different national groups, [and] ethnic groups," "You know, I'd like to see black people get into this organization." Shortly thereafter, she was organizing "down south" and bringing the benefits of the IWO to southern African American sharecroppers.

The last section of We Shall Be Free includes the full text of W.E.B. Du Bois' application to join the Communist Party,USA.

Howard's We Shall Be Free! is a compact, little book. But it packs a good punch, and largely succeeds at "giv[ing] voice to black Communists," while respecting "the intellectual contributions found in their protest writings."

In all, We Shall Be Free! is an important contribution to African American and Communist history, and my criticisms regarding the lack of historical context are peripheral. During this African American History Month We Shall Be Free! should be read by all carrying on the traditions of these great Communist leaders.

Book information:

We Shall Be Free!: Black Communist Protest in Seven Voices
By Walter T. Howard
Temple University Press, 2013, 208 pages

Photo: Amazon.com

For Valentine’s Day, a love poem

Wed, 12 Feb 2014 12:42:00 +0000

I wrote this poem while sitting at a bookstore that was on the east side of Rockford, IL. Some of the elements that were mentioned in the poem I actually had by my side. In a creative mood, I heard a woman's voice - the rest is history.

"I Met Her At A Book Store"

I met her at a bookstore

Amidst the aroma of coffee,

laughter, and conversation.

Somehow our eyes met. We

began to admire and respect

each others presence.

In essence I considered

our first glance a chance

For my soul's salvation.

Clearest to me was the sunshine

Of her smile and the beauty of her

dimpled cheeks, which caused me

To stumble over my speech

from time to time.

Her laughter was liquid upon

The jazz that played lightly in

the cafe. I could not have had

a better day.

She saw me sipping green tea

serenely, then wanted to meet me.

Turns out, she beat me to the last copy

Of Pablo Neruda's " On The Blue Shore

of Silence."

That's how we met: Her hand touched

mine and in that brief moment in time

We seemed to marry one another.

I found myself smothered

In the glory of her greatness

Singing silently in a blanketing

bliss of love's unpredictable beauty.

I met her at a bookstore. My

life has changed forevermore.

2004

Photo: Ian Collins/Flickr/CC

Pan African Film Festival opens Feb. 6 in L.A.

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 12:31:00 +0000

The 22^nd Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), one of L.A.'s leading annual cinema showcases and the biggest and most prestigious Black-themed film festivals, will take place February 6-17 at the new Rave Cinemas Baldwin Hills 15 at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

The PAFF will screen 172 features, documentaries, shorts, as well as web series in the New Media category, from more than 40 countries straddling the globe. There will also be panel discussions, workshops, a fine art exhibit, a spoken word fest, a fashion show, personal appearances by talents, etc.

Following are some highlights of this year's PAFF:

Opening Night Los Angeles Premiere

Of Good Report (South Africa/101 minutes/2013), February 6 - directed by Jahmil X. T. Qubeka. Parker, a shy and mysterious high school teacher, arrives at his new assignment in a rural school. While he is earnest in his passion for teaching, his extracurricular attentions are drawn to a gorgeous young girl. When he realizes she is a student at his very school-and forbidden fruit-he grows increasingly obsessed with her. When the girl goes missing, a female detective comes snooping around, fueling Parker's unstable, even dangerous, behavior. It's a modern-day classic, a film noir that will in time prove to be a milestone in Pan African films. Mothusi Magano (Parker) and Petronella Tshum (Nolitha) co-stars along with Thobi Mkhwanazi , Nomhlé Nkyonyeni , Tshamano Sebe.

Super-sized Centerpiece Presentation World Premiere

About Last Night (US/2013), February 11 -- directed by Steve Pink.

A very hip re-imagining of the classic sophisticated romantic comedy, this contemporary version closely follows new love for two couples as they journey from the bar to the bedroom, and are eventually put to the test in the real world. The cast includes Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall, Joy Bryant, Christopher McDonald and Paula Patton.

Closing Night World Premiere

Blackbird (US/102 minutes/2013), February 16 -- directed by Patrick-Ian Polk. Based on the novel by Larry Duplechan, this film is a powerful coming-of-age story about 17-year-old Randy Rousseau. A devout high school choirboy, Randy is struggling to come to terms with his sexuality in his small, religiously-conservative Mississippi hometown. Randy juggles his role as star of the church choir while facing the everyday trials of life as a high school misfit. Complicating matters, his little sister has gone missing and his parents have subsequently split up, leaving him to care for his heartbroken mother, Claire. When Claire discovers the shocking secret her son has been hiding, she blames him for the disappearance of his sister. Randy's father, Lance, who has been keeping a watchful eye on his broken family, steps in to give his son a hand as he struggles to make the difficult transition into manhood. The cast includes Oscar-winner Mo'Nique (Precious) and veteran actor Isaiah Washington, fresh off his critically-acclaimed and Gotham Award-nominated performance in Blue Caprice.

On February 8 at 7:45 p.m. there will be a special evening with the actor Charles S. Dutton, star of the 1990s TV series Roc.

On February 15 at 6:30 p.m. there will be a Town Hall at the Rave Cinemas 15 Baldwin Hills called: "Black Cinema Rebirth." It will examine: Is Black Back? Since the latter months of 2013, we have been experiencing an unprecedented number of Black films on commercial theater screens. Are we experiencing the birth of a new era for Black cinema or is it just false labor? With the success of films like Think Like a Man, Best Man Holiday, The Butler, as well as the multi-Oscar nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning 12 Years A Slave, what's the future for films with a predominately Black cast? Panelists discussing the who, what, and why of this new phenomenon include: Gil Robertson (co-founder of the African-American Film Critics Association), Sharon Johnson (Author), Loretta Devine (Grey's Anatomy, Jumping the Broom), James Lopez, SVP of Production, Screen Gems-Sony Pictures Ent. Film historian/critic Ed Rampell will be the panel moderator. Tickets: $20.

For more PAFF info, visit their website.

Ed Rampell wrote Progressive Hollywood: A People's Film History of the United States and co-authored the new The Hawaii Movie and Television Book.

Photo: Mo'Nique in scene from Blackbird.

Movies you might have missed: "Sacco and Vanzetti"

Fri, 07 Feb 2014 17:01:00 +0000

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were immigrants from Italy, revolutionary members of the working class, and activists against exploitation. In 1920's USA, that was a combination that terrified the ruling class and could prove deadly to those who fought to change the social order.

The 2006 documentary "Sacco and Vanzetti" is a well-made, engrossing documentary that does something remarkable. It makes compelling viewing out of the retelling of the prosecution of a murder trial from 87 years ago, of which we already know the outcome.

In the aftermath of a South Braintree, Massachusetts, payroll robbery that left two men dead a wave of round-ups occurred, targeting radicals in general and the recently active adherents of Italian anarchist Luigi Galleani in particular. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were caught in this dragnet and having both been armed at the time of their arrest, made for good suspects in the unsolved payroll case.

Soon they would be swept into the jaws of a justice system bent on quelling what they saw as a looming, violent rebellion of toilers. Add into this poisonous brew of paranoia and suspicion, a deadly dose of anti-immigrant bigotry and Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted before they ever entered the courtroom. No amount of eyewitnesses to the contrary, or even confessions from the criminals that pulled the job, could save them.

The film is meticulous in its research, interviewing everyone from the daughter of one of the murder victims, to Arlo Guthrie (the son of Woody Guthrie) who plays the song his father wrote regarding the case. There are many wonderful scenes of the mass defense rallies organized by the CPUSA and shots of bold banner headlines, emblazoned across the front page of the People's World's predecessor, the Daily Worker, that cry out for justice in the case. The one sour note in the film occurs when one commentator dismisses the efforts of Communists as cynical manipulation of a tragedy. More proof that in the USA you have to include some anti-Communism, even in a film about Sacco and Vanzetti!

A variety of labor historians and legal experts walk the viewer through the details of the case, the cultural and political atmosphere in New England at the time, as well as the personal lives of the defendants. Actors Tony Shalhoub and John Turturro are sparingly used to voice the letters of the two doomed men as they write to their families, to each other, and to the world, from their prison cells. The documentary includes some seldom seen moving footage of the two men as they enter and exit the courthouse.

The deep impact this miscarriage of justice had on the collective psyche of the working class is evident when one witness chokes up as he recalls how, as a youngster, he was taken by his father to a Sacco and Vanzetti solidarity rally and he says how proud he is to say that he was there. What is also evident, however, is the still present heartbreak that despite the worldwide mobilization for justice it was not enough to save them from a state dictated to by the tentacles of finance-capital and determined to protect the ruling class from the forces hostile to it.

This film is a fitting testament to the courage, the dignity, and ultimately the innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti.

Sacco and Vanzetti

Directed by Peter Miller

Produced by Peter Miller and Editor Amy Linton

80 minutes, English