The film, Salt of the Earth, was no ordinary production.
The year was 1953. Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House, sworn in as president just six weeks earlier, the same day work on the film began here in New Mexico. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg remained on death row, awaiting execution for conspiracy to sell atomic secrets to the Soviets, as the bloodletting in Korea sputtered toward stalemate. Meanwhile, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy continued his campaign to oust communists, real and imagined, from every sector of American culture, government and industry.