Main Cast: Hank Azaria, Rubén Blades, Joan Cusack, John Cusack, Cary Elwes, Cherry Jones, Angus MacFadyen
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 133 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The sometimes rocky relationship between art and politics in America in the 1930s -- as well as the gulf between the wealthy and the struggling -- sets the stage for Tim Robbins' ambitious comedy-drama Cradle Will Rock. Pulling together a variety of threads from actual events, Robbins examines the lives and ambitions of a variety of creative mavericks and figures of power. Orson Welles (Angus Macfadyen) and John Houseman (Cary Elwes) are working with Marc Bliztstein (Hank Azaria) to stage the latter's leftist musical "The Cradle Will Rock" for the WPA-funded Federal Theater Project. After Congress cuts funding for the embattled Federal Theater over the perceived leftist slant of their presentations, the project is canceled on the day of its premier. Welles and his cast respond by marching 21 blocks from the theater where the show was to open to another venue where, in deference to Actors Equity regulations, they perform the entire show from the audience. A member of Welles' cast, Aldo Silvano (John Turturro), is a dedicated actor from Italy who is trying to resolve his attitudes about his family, who loyally support Mussolini, to Silvano's disgust. Meanwhile, El Duce's former mistress, Margherita Sarfatti (Susan Sarandon), is consorting with industrial tycoon Gray Mathers (Philip Baker Hall) -- whose wife, Contesse LaGrange (Vanessa Redgrave) is a friend and supporter of Welles' project. Elsewhere, Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) has hired expatriot Mexican artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to create a mural for his projected Rockefeller Center, but the two are soon locking horns over their different views on art, politics and the work at hand. And a ventriloquist fallen on hard times, Tommy Crickshaw (Bill Murray), finds himself trying to teach both comedy and speaking without lip movements to a pair of would-be performers at a WPA-backed vaudeville house. William Randolph Hearst (John Carpenter), Marion Davies (Gretchen Mol), Frida Kahlo (Corina Katt), and Olive Stanton (Emily Watson) are also woven into the tapestry of this historical epic, which premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
From his previous directorial efforts, you know that Tim Robbins is a pretty smart guy who sometimes feels he has to let the audience in on things that he knows and no one else does. That attitude, which is highly noticeable in Cradle Will Rock, is the one detriment to the film. It's very clear where Robbins stands on the issues, and he's never been too subtle about his opinions. Sometimes you half expect to be clubbed in the head with a sign that says "Important Thematic Point." All that aside, Cradle Will Rock is a terrific movie. Focusing as it does on the events surrounding the Federal Theatre during the New Deal, Robbins does a tremendous job condensing the key events of the time into a comprehensive and intertwining narrative (hence the opening disclaimer, "a mostly true story"). The cast are all top-notch in their portrayals, particularly John Cusack as Nelson Rockefeller, Hank Azaria as Marc Blitzstein, and Cherry Jones as Federal Theatre director Hallie Flanagan. Overall, it's difficult to pick a few members of the ensemble out for special praise, as they are all good and Robbins lets them get into their roles with just a touch of the old Hollywood movie star gloss thrown in. The only true exception seems to be Angus MacFadyen as Orson Welles. Not that he doesn't give it the old college try, but comparisons will inevitably be made between Cradle Will Rock's version of Welles and the one put forth by RKO 281 at about the same time. Perhaps that problem lies in the fact that in this film, Welles is just one of many characters we follow, and, being Orson Welles, he just doesn't blend in too well with the others. MacFadyen should be credited with the attempt, but he seems a little out of sync with everyone else. At first glance, the film seems to want to be a comedy but it doesn't play for laughs as such. The plot involves the audience tremendously by shifting between six different stories. The editing is both noticeable and excellent. Usually those two terms are mutually exclusive when it comes to putting a film together but there are so many things happening simultaneously that it becomes fascinating to watch how, when, and why the film cuts from story line to story line. There is some tremendously emotionally stirring stuff here as well, which, depending not only on artistic tastes but political views, greatly affects how the film is received, although, regardless of personal opinions, the characters are sure to generate empathy. The movie is much more successful as entertainment than as a statement, and if Robbins had realized that, his film may have been even greater. ~ Dan Friedman, All Movie Guide
Peter Rogers - Art Director, Douglas Aibel - Casting, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Allan Nicholls - First Assistant Director, Tim Robbins - Director, Geraldine Peroni - Editor, Allan Nicholls - Executive Producer, David Robbins - Composer (Music Score), Richard Hoover - Production Designer, Jean-Yves Escoffier - Cinematographer, Lydia Dean Pilcher - Producer, Tim Robbins - Producer, Jon Kilik - Producer, Gary Chester - Sound Mixer, Tod A. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, Tim Robbins - Screenwriter, Marc Blitzstein - Featured Music
Cradle Will Rock is a 1999drama film which chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein. Tim Robbins, in his third film as director, adapts history to create this fictionalized account of the original production, bringing in other stories of the time to produce this commentary on the role of art and power in the 1930s, particularly amidst the struggles of the 1930s labor movement and the corresponding appeal of socialism and communism among many intellectuals and working class people of that time.
In telling the story of The Cradle Will Rock, a leftist labor musical that was sponsored by the Federal Theater Project (FTP), only to be banned from going on after the WPA cut the project and diverted its funds elsewhere, Robbins is able to tie in issues such as labor unrest, the repression of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, as well as questions the role and value of art in such a tumultuous time.
The film was released in conjunction with a book Robbins put together to provide a more in-depth look at the history of the time in which the film is set. The book includes the film’s script, accompanied by essays and pictures describing the people, events and themes that are the basis for the film.
Cradle Will Rock was meant to be Orson Welles's last film as director. It went into pre-production in 1983 with Rupert Everett on board to play Welles before the backers pulled out and the production collapsed.
The film begins with one long tracking shot that focuses on a destitute young woman named Olive Stanton (Emily Watson) who is sleeping illegally in a theater, being awakened and kicked out. The shot continues as she slowly walks down the street following the sound of the song Nickel Under My Foot, which leads her to the building where the song is being played. The camera pans up the side of the building and moves inside where we are introduced to the playwright Marc Blitzstein (Hank Azaria) attempting to write the songs and put together the musical The Cradle Will Rock. Acting as Blitzstein’s conscience/mentors are a vision of his deceased wife and later, an imaginary Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was a radical playwright who stressed the importance of breaking down the wall between the audience and actors, and a fitting character for this story of the production of Cradle Will Rock, which did just that.
The film continues, providing a picture of life in the 1930s where some people wait in endless unemployment lines attempting to get work, while others enjoy their wealth engaging in parties and purchasing expensive works of art. As the musical nears production, the WPA cuts the budget for the FTP, and puts a halt to all new productions. This announcement comes following the House Committee on Un-American Activities’ questioning of many of those involved in the FTP, and the musical itself due to its leftist themes around labor and union organizing. Despite being canceled, the director, Orson Welles (Angus Macfadyen) and producer, John Houseman (Cary Elwes), lead the cast to another theater that they were able to secure at the last minute. The cast is forbidden to perform by their union, so Blitzstein takes the stage alone at an upright piano to perform the show himself, only to be joined by many of the cast members who deliver their lines from the audience. Robbins juxtaposes this final triumphant moment of the theater with images of the destruction of a mural commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) because the artist, Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades), refused to remove the image of Lenin's face from the piece. In tying together stories of labor issues and steel strikes, censorship in painting and theater, and the disparities of wealth and power, Robbins is able to paint a picture of the 1930s that goes beyond simply recounting past events and questions the boundaries between art, power and politics. Furthermore, Robbins attempts to link these issues to the present day through the final shot of the film. The camera follows a mock funeral procession for the FTP as it marches into Times Square only to pan up from this scene to a shot of the high rises and neon billboards that stand there today.
This film takes place in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The plot explores issues of censorship within the Federal Theater Project and elsewhere. The film comments on the control of the House Committee on Un-American Activities and on the stark contrasts of wealth and poverty during the Depression. The film takes some narrative license and coincides events that in reality happened at different places in time, like the labor strikes against Little Steel (1939), the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935) and the HUAC’s assault on the Federal Theater Project (1937) (Weales 2000).
While the original production of The Cradle Will Rock was stated to be “The most exciting evening of theater this New York generation has seen” (MacLeish, Cole 2000), some critics did not feel the same about Robbins’ reproduction of the event for film. Although it was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival,[1] among other festivals, and some have praised the film as an astute commentary on censorship and the lines between art and life (Cole 2000), others have criticized the piece for attempting to bring too many themes together into one story, and thus losing the power of the original context altogether (Alleva 2000; Weales 2000). But it is a difficult film to evaluate because a strong political stance is its most prominent theme, which tends to provoke both raves and rants.
The children's play Revolt of the Beavers was also featured in this film. It too was under scrutiny from the HUAC for promoting a communistic ideal of equal work and equal rewards. In the film it was valiantly defended by the head of the FTP, Hallie Flanagan (Cherry Jones), and the play ran for approximately one month at the Adelphi theater in New York.[2]
