Black Diamonds
Cast & Crew
Christy Cabanne
Richard Arlen
Andy Devine
Kathryn Adams
Paul Fix
Mary Treen
Film Details
Technical Specs
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Synopsis
While en route to an assignment as a war correspondent in Europe, young Walter Norton returns to his home town in a mining region to visit his parents. There, he is alerted by Archie Connor, one of the miners, that Redman, the owner of the mine, is running an unsafe operation. On the morning that Walter is to sail for Europe, his father is injured in a mine explosion, and he decides to stay and investigate. Dressed as a miner, Walter joins his friend, Barney Tolliver, in the tunnels, but the men, fearful of losing their jobs, oppose his efforts. To protest the unsafe conditions, Connor decides to dynamite the mine, and when Walter tries to stop him, both men are arrested. As Walter languishes in jail, his sister Nina, who works as Redman's secretary, overhears her boss bribing Matthews, the state mine inspector, not to report the dangerous conditions in the mine. Nina relays the information to her boyfriend, Barney, who realizes that they must get Walter out of jail to help them. They are aided in their task by Linda Connor, Walter's high school sweetheart and the miner's daughter, who uses her knowledge as a nurse to get Walter transferred to the hospital, from which he is able to escape. Walter and Barney then lure Matthews into the mine and threaten to dynamite the tunnel unless he confesses to bribery. Their plans go awry when Johnson, the mine supervisor, arrives with his guards and leaves Matthews, Walter and Barney to die in the blast. When Barney's fake dynamite fails to detonate, a betrayed Matthews informs the miners of the grave danger, and the news of Redman's corruption prompts the government to assume control of the mine.
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Director
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/ChristyCabanne.781038.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Christy Cabanne
Cast
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/RichardArlen.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Richard Arlen
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/AndyDevine.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Andy Devine
Kathryn Adams
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/PaulFix.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Paul Fix
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/MaryTreen.193900.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Mary Treen
Cliff Clark
Pat Flaherty
Maude Allen
James Norton
Tom Chatterton
Henry Roquemore
Claire Du Brey
Robert Homans
Chuck Morrison
Joseph Kamaryt
Art Miles
Ray Spiker
George Guhl
Victor Zimmerman
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/ADDISON-RICHARDS.161162.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Addison Richards
Norman Willis
Eddy Chandler
Ralph Sanford
Guy Usher
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/LeePhelps.151667.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Lee Phelps
Eddie Fetherston
Crew
Bernard B. Brown
Charles Carroll
R. A. Gausman
Ted Kent
Harold H. Macarthur
Jack Otterson
Vaughn Paul
Ben Pivar
Sam Robins
Sam Robins
H. J. Salter
William Sickner
Vera West
Clarence Upson Young
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Film Details
Technical Specs
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)