In 1954 during the height of McCarthyism and the Cold War, the controversial labor film "Salt of the Earth" was made despite numerous attempts by the film industry and the US government to prevent its production. "A Crime to Fit the Punishment" explores the background events and political atmosphere that surrounded the film's production and movingly chronicles the filmmakers' defiance of the Hollywood blacklist.Interviews with some of the film's principals ad scenes from Salt of the Earth are combined with news clips and broadcasts from the early 1950's which puts it into an overall political context.