Appreciate Tim's comments on the historical company town
violence that is obviously behind Hammett's novel. I liked
the social history DH inserted in the novel, explaining how
the town became poisonous in the first place. Gives the title
a nice twist, the harvest of anti-"red" (union, IWW)
activity
(Forshadowing Hammett's later difficulties too.) My somewhat
negative comments on disbelief and action comics or
cartoonlike action films had more to do with how unscathed,
unnicked some ops can be when all around them are catching
bullets.
BTW, those interested in the theme of company/union violence,
espec. in small towns, might well want to check out John
Sayles' classic, based on real events in a West Virginia
mining town in the 1920s, Matewan. It certainly supports
Hammett's vision of how bad it could get. If you're tastes
extend to European film, the Italian film, The Organizer
(starring Marcello Mastroianni) is quite good, along similar
lines.
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