The story behind the making of this movie is more interesting than the film itself. Orson Welles had written an autobiographical screenplay about his time with the Federal Theater Project. It was especially about the effort in 1937 to stage a pro-union operetta. Composer Marc Blitzstein wrote "The Cradle Will Rock."
Welles began work on a film in 1983 but stopped when his funding fell through. He died in October 1985. He had divided his estate between his wife of 30 years, Paola Mori, and his mistress of 20 plus years, Yugoslav-Croatian actress, Oja Kodar. They fought prolonged legal battles over the ownership of this and several other unfinished films.
Then, in 1999, Tim Robbins made this film that is not based on Welles's screenplay and story. Rather, it is a fictional montage of 1937. It covers many of the cultural clashes and conditions of the Great Depression. It's centered around the Federal Theater Project and the Blitzstein play that many people were working on at the time. So this film, "Cradle Will Rock," with its slight change in title, is a separate fictional story about that event and time. It incorporates several smaller plots into a panoramic shot of the Great Depression in the Manhattan of 1937.
The film covers a myriad of subjects. It has the Federal Theater Project itself, which was one of several in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the New Deal. It shows congressional hearings and the fears about Communist inroads in America. It has scenes about the effort to form labor unions and its effect on the theater of the time. It's about the unemployed in the theater as well as the general population. And, it touches on politics in the various and New Deal efforts to get the country through the depression.
While these subjects are wound into this film - indeed, they can't be missed, the film's focus is more on the struggle the cast and sponsors have to bring the play to the stage. Along with all of this are some subplots of individuals. The best of these is a tragic drama and unspoken love story that develops between two people. Bill Murray is Tommy Crickshaw who has been a vaudeville entertainer as a ventriloquist. Joan Cusack plays Hazel Huffman, an employment clerk for the WPA.
Another separate subplot is about the controversy over the mural for the foyer of the Rockefeller Center in New York City. This incident occurred several years before the 1937 play, "The Cradle Will Rock." John D. Rockefeller hired Mexican artist Diego Rivera in 1932 to paint a mural for all to see in the Rockefeller lobby. But when Rivera included a likeness of Lenin, the Rockefellers wanted it painted over. Rivera refused and in 1934, the mural was chiseled off the wall. It would be replaced later by the current mural by Jose Maria Sert, "American Progress."
Thus, the filmmakers for this movie pulled together a number of things from the general period as though they all took place in 1937. This was done to highlight the theater and the arts during the Depression. So, the film should be considered a fictional story about several real events.
The film has a huge cast. It has roles for the major people involved in the 1937 project. And it has more roles for the other subplots. Hank Azaria plays Marc Blitzstein, Cary Elwes plays John Houseman, Angus Macfadyen plays Orson Welles, Ruben Blades plays Diego Rivera and John Cusack plays Nelson Rockefeller. Cherry Jones is very good as Hallie Flanagan who headed the theater project. And there are other big names of the silver screen and well-known performers. Among them are Vanessa Redgrave, Susan Sarandon, John Turturro, and Emily Watson.
As a political film itself, this is also a good social satire. If this movie were made in 1937, it surely would have been considered a good propaganda film. But not so now, or since the start of World War II. That's when the world first learned of Joseph Stalin's effort to obliterate the Ukrainian farmers by a forced famine. It killed millions, and when the real famine struck next, it lead to millions more starving to death in the Soviet Union.
The film does a good job showing the contrast between the haves and have-nots of the Great Depression. It inserts several scenes of the Rockefellers and the very rich of New York. They are at art shows, in high-class restaurants, at the theater, and in other rich surroundings. And, there's no little amount of irony in that. Because the rich of the early 20th century were the sponsors, promoters and theatergoers of that day.
Well, this is a fun film to watch, even with a plot that bounces from subplot to subplot without any real connection. The costumes and sets give something of a sense of the late 1930s. The performances are mostly good, but nothing special jumps out. I wonder about reviewers who are greatly enamored by this film - or any film for that matter. It's hardly a film that will change one's life, or a great artistic piece in itself.
Life and art are so much more than a single film of any type. I remind myself, when I particularly enjoy a film, that it's fiction that's meant to entertain. And, that real life and greatness are found outside the theater doors.
Welles began work on a film in 1983 but stopped when his funding fell through. He died in October 1985. He had divided his estate between his wife of 30 years, Paola Mori, and his mistress of 20 plus years, Yugoslav-Croatian actress, Oja Kodar. They fought prolonged legal battles over the ownership of this and several other unfinished films.
Then, in 1999, Tim Robbins made this film that is not based on Welles's screenplay and story. Rather, it is a fictional montage of 1937. It covers many of the cultural clashes and conditions of the Great Depression. It's centered around the Federal Theater Project and the Blitzstein play that many people were working on at the time. So this film, "Cradle Will Rock," with its slight change in title, is a separate fictional story about that event and time. It incorporates several smaller plots into a panoramic shot of the Great Depression in the Manhattan of 1937.
The film covers a myriad of subjects. It has the Federal Theater Project itself, which was one of several in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the New Deal. It shows congressional hearings and the fears about Communist inroads in America. It has scenes about the effort to form labor unions and its effect on the theater of the time. It's about the unemployed in the theater as well as the general population. And, it touches on politics in the various and New Deal efforts to get the country through the depression.
While these subjects are wound into this film - indeed, they can't be missed, the film's focus is more on the struggle the cast and sponsors have to bring the play to the stage. Along with all of this are some subplots of individuals. The best of these is a tragic drama and unspoken love story that develops between two people. Bill Murray is Tommy Crickshaw who has been a vaudeville entertainer as a ventriloquist. Joan Cusack plays Hazel Huffman, an employment clerk for the WPA.
Another separate subplot is about the controversy over the mural for the foyer of the Rockefeller Center in New York City. This incident occurred several years before the 1937 play, "The Cradle Will Rock." John D. Rockefeller hired Mexican artist Diego Rivera in 1932 to paint a mural for all to see in the Rockefeller lobby. But when Rivera included a likeness of Lenin, the Rockefellers wanted it painted over. Rivera refused and in 1934, the mural was chiseled off the wall. It would be replaced later by the current mural by Jose Maria Sert, "American Progress."
Thus, the filmmakers for this movie pulled together a number of things from the general period as though they all took place in 1937. This was done to highlight the theater and the arts during the Depression. So, the film should be considered a fictional story about several real events.
The film has a huge cast. It has roles for the major people involved in the 1937 project. And it has more roles for the other subplots. Hank Azaria plays Marc Blitzstein, Cary Elwes plays John Houseman, Angus Macfadyen plays Orson Welles, Ruben Blades plays Diego Rivera and John Cusack plays Nelson Rockefeller. Cherry Jones is very good as Hallie Flanagan who headed the theater project. And there are other big names of the silver screen and well-known performers. Among them are Vanessa Redgrave, Susan Sarandon, John Turturro, and Emily Watson.
As a political film itself, this is also a good social satire. If this movie were made in 1937, it surely would have been considered a good propaganda film. But not so now, or since the start of World War II. That's when the world first learned of Joseph Stalin's effort to obliterate the Ukrainian farmers by a forced famine. It killed millions, and when the real famine struck next, it lead to millions more starving to death in the Soviet Union.
The film does a good job showing the contrast between the haves and have-nots of the Great Depression. It inserts several scenes of the Rockefellers and the very rich of New York. They are at art shows, in high-class restaurants, at the theater, and in other rich surroundings. And, there's no little amount of irony in that. Because the rich of the early 20th century were the sponsors, promoters and theatergoers of that day.
Well, this is a fun film to watch, even with a plot that bounces from subplot to subplot without any real connection. The costumes and sets give something of a sense of the late 1930s. The performances are mostly good, but nothing special jumps out. I wonder about reviewers who are greatly enamored by this film - or any film for that matter. It's hardly a film that will change one's life, or a great artistic piece in itself.
Life and art are so much more than a single film of any type. I remind myself, when I particularly enjoy a film, that it's fiction that's meant to entertain. And, that real life and greatness are found outside the theater doors.