AllMovie

With These Hands is an entertaining 47-minute slice of propaganda, courtesy of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. The film dramatizes the rise of the American labor movement, beginning with the dark days of the sweatshop in 1910 and culminating with the much-improved working conditions and wage scales of the 1950s. The infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1913 is re-created, along with many other examples of labor-management iniquity. Given the temper of the times, the film is careful to distance the ILGWU from the Communist Party, by demonstrating the damage caused to the Movement by Red agitators. The cast is filled to overflowing with top Broadway talent, including Arlene Francis, Sam Levene, Joseph Wiseman, Alexander Scourby and Alexander Lockwood. Though designed to be shown at rallies and fundraisers, With These Hands managed to attain a few theatrical bookings.