Educational Media Reviews Online

Bill Duke’s directorial debut is a retelling of the integration of unions in Chicago’s meat packing district during World War I. The Killing Floor is reminiscent of early immigrant exploitation as depicted in Upton Sinclair’s novel, “The Jungle.” The film’s hero is Frank Custer, a black sharecropper from Mississippi, whose migration to Chicago, and call to activism leads to the formation of one of the earliest interracial labor unions in the United States. It’s interesting to note that this made-for-television program was released several years after then President Reagan fired “11,000 striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization in 1981,” (see Joseph McCartin’s “Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America,” as well as several years after the demise of the Union Stock Yards. )

Rather than regurgitate society’s mistreatment of its African American and predominately Polish immigrant population, the film serves to tackle important issues for discussion. Such as, African American mass migration to the north and what did resettlement truly mean for those communities, the exploitation and overcrowding of housing for both migrants and immigrants, job placement and wage inequality, segregation, the treatment of cattle, and so much more. Vegetarians and vegans beware! Unfortunately, when you cram these debilitating socio-economic issues into a cauldron, sprinkled with a dash of entitled immigrants (Irish), and returning unemployed white soldiers, tensions are bound to boil over. These issues are just a few causes which leads to the Chicago Race Riot of 1919. However, Chicago is not the only city in turmoil during this time. Numerous race riots are exploding in towns and cities all over the United States.

As someone who is unfamiliar with the pros and cons of labor unions, Google lists several pros and cons as to why a person might want to join or decline membership in a Union. Some of the pros listed states: it provides worker protections, promotes higher wages and better benefits, are economic trend setters, and political organizing is easier. Subsequently, Unions discourage individuality, makes it harder to promote and terminate workers, and they can drive up costs. A report generated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that as of January 2018, Black workers remained more likely to be Union members than White, Asian, or Hispanic workers.

Still, why is this such an important film for preservation? The answers are found in previous reviews which lauds this film as an important part of African American history, as well as a true Chicago story. During the 1980s, Chicago elects its first black mayor, Harold Washington, and native Chicagoans believe whole-heartedly in this project, so much so, that many serve as extras in the film.

In a recent YouTube interview with filmmaker Bill Duke, and I paraphrase here, he provides the following commentary on the true message of the film. He states, “…when workers realized that they were being treated the same, they noticed that they could get more done together. They had more in common than they had differences. It literally changed the whole Union system in this country and began to have an impact on how Unions began to see themselves.” Sometimes, a reviewer can have a myopic opinion which differs greatly from the filmmaker’s intent. Therefore, I applaud Mr. Duke for highlighting this very important message.

I highly recommend this film with reservations for African American, and Labor studies. It is important to note that this film contains language and images that may not be suitable for today’s conscientious viewer. Therefore, viewer discretion is advised. This reviewer was a little shocked to learn that this film had its debut on public television. I wonder if censors omitted the derogatory language, or was it shown in the same vein as Alex Haley’s television debut of “Roots” which was disturbing and raw in every sense. As this nation tries to heal and combat anti-racism, films of yore may seem inappropriate for today’s viewing, but they are necessary resources to highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly that is America’s history.

Awards: The Killing Floor won a jury award at the U.S. Film Festival, soon to be renamed the Sundance Film Festival.

Preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive from a 16mm safety color original picture negative and a mono 16mm safety audio mag track MTI Nova Restoration, laboratory services and DCP by UCLA Film & Television Archive Digital Media Lab. Special thanks to Elsa Rassbach, Sundance Institute Collection at UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Published and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Anyone can use these reviews, so long as they comply with the terms of the license.