Director Martin Ritt (1914)

Norma Rae (1979) an American drama directed by Martin Ritt, follows the story of a worker in a cotton mill. Despite the negative impact on her family’s health, Norma refuses to turn a blind eye to the poor working conditions. As a single mother with two children from different fathers (one deceased and the other neglectful), she often engages in flings to combat feelings of loneliness and boredom. Initially, management attempts to pacify her frequent protests by promoting her to ‘spot checker’, where she is responsible for monitoring work quotas. Though hesitant, she accepts the position for the higher ...

The American drama film The Front (1976) takes place during the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s, when individuals in the entertainment industry were deemed unemployable due to allegations of Communist sympathies or affiliations. Written by Walter Bernstein and directed by Martin Ritt, the film features Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, and Michael Murphy. In 1953 New York City, television writer Alfred Miller is unable to find work ...

The British spy film, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), is based on John le Carré’s novel of the same name. MI6’s West Berlin office, headed by station chief Alec Leamas, has decreased in effectiveness. After one of his operatives dies, Leamas is called back to London and appears to be rejected from the agency. However, Control, the chief of MI6, has carefully orchestrated a transformation for Leamas. He takes on a new identity as an assistant at a local library and develops a relationship with Nan Perry, his co-worker and a member of the British Communist Party. Due to spending most of his salary on ...