Dirty Cops, No Donuts
"Memorial Day Massacre" uncovers strike-breaking receipts in suppressed footage.
Dear Moviegoers,
There has been little to no change in how American media responds to strikes and protests, from a century ago to now. Clear as day, from print to broadcast, from decade to decade, decisions are made from the top down to control narratives and conveniently leave out crucial details of the ongoing struggle for civil and labor rights.
In the short documentary Memorial Day Massacre: Workers Die, Film Buried, the veteran journalist and filmmaker Greg Mitchell - who writes
- picks apart a 1937 police attack on a steelworkers strike in Chicago, and attempts to right some wrongs in the process, by analyzing the suppressed and lopsided newsreel footage made from that Memorial Day tragedy. More than providing a timeline summary, Mitchell crafts both a lively piece of integral journalism and an easy-to-grasp story.Whether it’s the veil of “objectivity” or the fear of being hammered by the bosses, most mainstream news often slants toward authority. Not always, but often. Not all, but most. Memorial Day Massacre centers on the shocking newsreel footage, taken by Paramount and meant for movie theaters, of police advancing on and attacking a striker’s picnic and march, beating and killing with coldly calculated brutality and fierce righteousness.
The footage was withheld at first before being cut down for a lopsided perspective that was sold as being balanced. “A plague on both your houses,” said President Roosevelt, making a Shakespeare reference when responding to the event and its aftermath. Was he fooled by the “balanced” take, or was he fooling himself?
The documentary takes on a noble journalistic and storytelling cause but not without holding itself back a little. Even by today’s standards, Paramount’s newsreel of the event is a shock to the system. Memorial Day Massacre does great when bridging facts from in-between edits and when using archival audio interviews to help reset the context properly, making for a startling and urgent film.
However impactful, however informative, and however right it is, some further connections and contrasts to the current media landscape and the state of labor today would’ve been welcome. A nitpick yes, as the story of what happened and what was filmed is engaging alone. A silly and tedious nitpick maybe. While the final few minutes do discuss the news of now, it just doesn’t hold the same energy or interest as the rest of the movie.
Still, it’s the bulk of Memorial Day Massacre that is fascinating, about re-discovery and giving an explanation for present-day people. The song & dance of police violence was too familiar and routine then and is just as much today, but with the added visual text of the newsreel footage and the revelation of manipulation happening even way back when, this film is important, frank, and much-needed. 3.5/5
Memorial Day Massacre: Workers Die, Film Buried, is currently streaming on PBS.org. Greg Mitchell’s book supplement is available for purchase now.
Sincerely Yours in Moviegoing,
