alexanderdavies-99382 "Black Fury" was the only time Paul Muni worked with Michael Curtiz. Potentially, this film could have been great but it is far from that. Muni wasn't very keen on acting in films, his preference was always going to be the theatre. He wasn't able to tone down his acting style for the cinema for the most part and he often appeared to be playing a caricature. He is guilty of this in the film "Black Fury." He is too theatrical in his facial expressions, his body language etc. Paul Muni plays a simple but honest coal miner who unwittingly becomes involved in a bitter dispute between the workers and the management. Muni, along with other miners, is subjected to intimidation. Barton MacLane is cast as a villain (he usually was) who is sent to destroy the livelihood of all the coal miners in this small community. Technically, the film is a disappointment. It is all too obvious that the sets representing the town in question are all on a soundstage. The sets don't look real and the direction from Michael Curtiz tends to suffer. The story itself is actually quite good and the film maintains a steady pace. The climax is also effective.

ccthemovieman-1 If you can't understand what the lead actor is saying half the time, it's kind of hard to enjoy the film! That's what I encountered trying to watch this as Paul Muni, as a Polish coal mine worker, speaks in such a heavy accent I couldn't decipher what he was saying. It gets to be a frustrating experience. If this would come out on DVD with English subtitles, I'd be glad to give it another look.Muni, almost always a fascinating actor, plays good-guy Joe Radek, a Pennsylvania coal miner who is used by his bosses to help them break the union. (This film is very pro-union, pro-working man.). They got Barton MacLane to play the heavy, something he was always good at doing. MacLane played the company boss. I always laugh at how these billionaire film makers always try to make management or the rich guys the evil ones. Maybe it's a guilty conscience from all the money they have made, but I see them more as big hypocrites.However, I find no fault in any movie trying to help the coal miners who did, in fact, had it bad and deserved better. It was dirty job and a dangerous one. It still is, as far as I know, but conditions have to be a whole lot better than a hundred years ago so don't misinterpret what I said earlier: in many cases, management was "the bad guy" way back then. It's just that, in most cases, it has been the opposite case the last 50 years and now it's tough to be sympathetic to union causesAnyway, Muni plays an interesting guy who you have to root for....if you can understand what he is saying with that accent.

edwagreen The fabulous Paul Muni gives another wonderful performance in this 1935 film.With a genuine Slavic accent, Muni is superb as a coal miner who loses his girl (Karen Morley) to a company Policeman and goes on a drinking binge as a result. It is at this point that a gangster organization tries to create chaos within the union and Muni becomes their perfect foil.J. Carrol Naish is excellent as the worker who works for this unholy organization.Naturally, Muni's best friend is killed in a clash with company police and Muni, now sober, vows revenge.Morley returns to Muni just in time as he goes down into the mine and starts blowing the place up. It's at this point that the film starts to go down, but with Muni's performance and the problems shown of what the coal miners had to endure plus the dishonesty in trying to break the union, all make for a very good film.

howdymax This is one dreary movie. It reminds one of the images conjured up in Upton Sinclair's "Jungle". The art direction is very much early Warner Bros with emphasis on dirt and grime.It has to do with the personal descent of an ignorant bohunk miner in Coaltown. His girl runs off with a company cop, he's conned by an agitator into sabotaging the union, and when he's finally on his own personal skids, his best friend is beat to death by the goons. Geez, whatever you do, don't watch this if you're depressed. After what seems like a lifetime of self loathing, he is redeemed. His girl comes home, he avenges his best friend, and all is right with the world. Dreck.Try to imagine Paul Muni's natural accent enhanced by an affected Eastern European accent. The result sounds like Yiddish with a mouth full of marbles. Add to that his over the top acting and plenty of dirt. The usually agreeable Karen Morley just looks depressed and bored. If I were in this movie, I would be depressed and bored. The only stand out in the movie is the irrepressible Barton MacLane. I think he is one of the few actors that would have been able to get through this without some kind of medication. Of course he gets his in the end.I have the greatest respect for Michael Curtiz. In my opinion, he is one of a small club of truly gifted directors - despite his brutal reputation. He was able to create some really memorable stuff. Historical costume epics, mysteries, human dramas, and anything else they threw at him. He has never disappointed me - until now.