Black Fury [DVD]

Based on real-life events, Black Fury brings viewers deep into Depression hard times and into the heart of Joe Radek, a simple, hardworking coal miner used and thrown away by racketeers eager to muscle in on the unions. Paul Muni, who personified 1930s anguish as the doomed hero of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, makes Joe an unforgettable character: likeable, headstrong, too easily led and finally a towering force for justice as he takes on company goons single-handed. As sinewy and visceral as the overworked men it celebrates, Black Fury pulls no punches, which may explain why it was banned in Pennsylvania, the state where this classic from Casablanca director Michael Curtiz is set.