Matewan (1987)

7.4 | Aug 28, 1987 (US) | Drama, History | 02:12

traitor based on true story west virginia gun battle racism preacher double cross labor organizer labor union coal mining workers union 1920s coal miner worker's rights miners strike mining company slit throat union struggle company town authoritarian company italian diaspora gun death hired goons

Budget: 4 000 000 | Revenue: 1 680 358

It takes more than guns to kill a man.

Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan's vested interests so that justice and workers' rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.