--- name: "Herbert J. Biberman" canonical: "https://film.one/person/herbert-j-biberman" fi1m_id: "herbert-j-biberman" imdb_id: "nm0080868" tmdb_id: 90370 wikidata_id: "Q254468" roles: ["Producer","Director"] born: "4 March 1900" died: "30 June 1971" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "producer" average_over: 0 updated: "2026-09-25T06:59:27.973832+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Herbert J. Biberman ## Identity Herbert J. Biberman - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/herbert-j-biberman - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** herbert-j-biberman - **IMDb ID:** nm0080868 - **TMDB ID:** 90370 - **Wikidata ID:** Q254468 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Biberman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q254468, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0080868/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/90370 Producer and director. Born 4 March 1900 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 30 June 1971. ## Details - **Work:** Producer, Director - **Born:** 4 March 1900, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - **Died:** 30 June 1971 - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Biberman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q254468, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0080868/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/90370 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Salt of the Earth*](https://film.one/film/salt-of-the-earth.md) (76) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Herbert J. Biberman > Herbert J. Biberman makes working people worth watching, especially when they disagree among themselves. We rate *Salt of the Earth* for its feeling and its attention to women’s demands, though its speeches sometimes crowd the characters out. In *Salt of the Earth* (1954), the miners and their families have a way of speaking and moving that helps the film through its stiffer passages. Biberman mixes local non-professionals with professional actors, giving the group a convincing life beyond the speeches. The workers have disagreements as well as grievances, and he makes those worth attending to. We think it is good, uneven work, with a seriousness about ordinary people that earns our patience. Biberman had directed studio features, including *One-Way Ticket* (1935) and *The Master Race* (1944), before making *Salt of the Earth* independently. Its account of a real New Mexico miners’ strike put a community, and divisions within it, at the centre of the drama. He later directed *Slaves* (1969), with Ossie Davis and Dionne Warwick, returning to social conflict through slavery and resistance. Our recommendation rests chiefly on *Salt of the Earth*, where the women’s demands for equality within the union complicate the workers’ common cause. With screenwriter Michael Wilson and producer Paul Jarrico, Biberman gives those internal disagreements a substantial place in the film. The men have to consider how fairly they treat the women alongside them, which makes their struggle more difficult and more interesting. We were moved by Rosaura Revueltas, because she makes the women’s demands feel personal when the speeches risk turning them into a lesson. Her performance gives us someone to care about through the stretches when the dialogue becomes too instructional. The trouble comes when Biberman seems to regard a firmly stated principle as sufficient drama. At times, a speech does the work that a character’s behaviour might have done, and the people have less room to be awkward or surprising. His certainty leaves little opportunity for us to work things out for ourselves. That is a limitation worth acknowledging in a film whose treatment of working people otherwise deserves respect. See *Salt of the Earth* for Revueltas and the life of the group, with some patience for the speeches. ## Biography Herbert J. Biberman (4 March 1900 – 30 June 1971) was an American screenwriter and film director. He directed and produced the independent film *Salt of the Earth* (1954), about a zinc miners' strike in New Mexico. Biberman was one of the Hollywood Ten, convicted of contempt of Congress in 1947 after refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee; he served a six-month prison sentence. His earlier career included writing films such as *King of Chinatown* (1939), *Action in Arabia* (1944) and *New Orleans* (1947), and directing *Meet Nero Wolfe* (1936) and *The Master Race* (1944). He later wrote and directed *Slaves* (1969). He was born in Philadelphia to Joseph and Eva Biberman, and married actress Gale Sondergaard in 1930. His membership in the Directors Guild of America was restored posthumously in 1997. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Salt of the Earth* (1954), Fi1m 76, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/salt-of-the-earth.md) ## Complete filmography (10) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Slaves* (1969), Director, Writer - *Salt of the Earth* (1954), Director, Producer — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/salt-of-the-earth.md) - *New Orleans* (1947), Story, Associate Producer - *Abilene Town* (1946), Associate Producer - *Together Again* (1944), Story - *The Master Race* (1944), Director, Writer - *Action in Arabia* (1944), Screenplay - *King of Chinatown* (1939), Story - *Meet Nero Wolfe* (1936), Director - *One Way Ticket* (1935), Director --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/herbert-j-biberman