Cradle will Rock

This is a brisk, fun film in many ways, because director Tim Robbins understands that it is very difficult to be didactic and entertain. But, as Oliver Stone uses fast cuts and snappy dialogue so as to "keep it moving," Robbins does just that too; and -- also like Stone -- he employs an exemplary cast to great result.Ramon Blades portrays Diego Rivera as a wryly perceptive charmer; John Cusack is a superficially sophisticated Nelson Rockefeller; Emily Watson is a poignant portrait in sadness as the actress actually "off the streets," Olive Stanton; Bill Murray is equally impressive as the melancholic, resentful vaudeville ventriloquist, Tommy Crickshaw; John Turturro is powerful and inspiring as the principled Italian immigrant who plays the union organizer in the radical Federal Theatre project musical that gives its title to this film. (And I must add an accolade for Corina Katt, who is Frida Kahlo: she takes a small part with only a few lines -- in Spanish, already! -- and you literally can not take your eyes off her when she is on screen.)As I say, there is a great deal of "fun" in this film, yet its essential story is serious and sad. It chronicles the erosion of politically potent (meaning "radical") popular theatre into the (generally) escapist entertainment that pervades most American arts today. From "Lenin" (who does not "stay" -- as Rivera's Rockefeller Center mural attacking imperial capitalism is destroyed by a self-righteously indignant Nelson) we have declined to "Lennon" -- i. e., a song like John Lennon's "Imagine" is as "radical" as pop culture is likely to allow.And note especially the masquerade ball sequence in which Nelson Rockefeller, William Randolph Hearst, and "Gray Mathers" (a fictional but representative steel magnate) discuss their scheme to exalt "individualistic" (i. e., ego-centered) abstract, scenic and erotic art at the expense of art with social purpose and a social conscience. If you wonder why there are so few good films that seriously critique our society and system (and so much silly, adolescent-oriented soft pornography), here is an explanation worth pondering -- as well as a movie worth seeing.

This is a great movie, way too underappreciated. Directed by Tim Robbins as a fast-moving series of tableaux, it provides a spirited window into the Depression era, the creation of the WPA public theater project, the growing anti-Communist fervor, pre-WWII maneuvering by the great powers, and above all the backstory of the story of the creation of something new in theater, a musical with a message, by Marc Blitstein, and a radical one at that, and the story of the heroic actors and musicians who managed to perform "The Cradle Will Rock" against all odds. See it if you've never seen it before, or even heard of it; or, like me, see it again for the third or fourth time. But who's counting?

wonderful acting...very compelling drama

The only thing one can say after watching this film is WOW. Tim Robbins takes on such a wide range of issues and does it well. The cast is amazing. The subject matter -- Art/Censorship/Wartime Politics/Patriotism - is so relevant today. I wish the studios would re-release this and soon, before we wind up with an Ashcroft/Rumsfeld witch hunt related to Iraq and 9/11. Even without thinking of these larger issues, the movie is simply great entertainment. There's romance, drama, comedy, rags to riches sub-plots and history. Characters include Nelson Rockerfeller, WR Hearst, Diego Rivera, and Orson Wells. I mean this is ambitious stuff. If I taught high school or college American History, I would show this film as a teaching tool. Enjoy this film and hope that hollywood makes more like it.

I had to watch this film for a college theatre course dealing with censorship, and really enjoyed it. There are not many films of this scope that I like as much. The reason, I think, is that these movies that have so many subplots that feed into the main plot are usually so busy that they are hard to follow, or they treat each subplot so sparsely that they all seem half-baked and poorly treated. Tim Robbins seems to have the right combination, and treats each character and subplot with enough detail to keep the audience wanting more, switching scenes at strategic points that kept me glued to the film without pausing it during its entire run.The movie makes it clear that a federal theatre probably would never work in a republic like America, because art demands complete freedom of expression. And no matter how well-intended a federally-funded theatre may claim to be, there will always be those controlling the purse-strings that will want to dictate what can and cannot be done with the money. Socialism as an idea was something that people at that time were looking into as an idea and so naturally themes of socialism were creeping into some of the work that was being created.While some boundaries can be good for artistic creativity, it will backfire if seen by the artistic community as oppressive or governed by commerce or other less-than-pure motives. That is why these artists eventually came together and worked around the restrictions placed on them that were intended to halt the performance, and created an impromptu performance of this musical from the house.It was a very inspiring movie, and there were a few artistic touches I enjoyed. One was the dispute between Diego Rivera painting the mural filled with communist imagery in one of John Rockefeller’s buildings. Another was the children’s beaver play being suspected of communist propaganda (which it may arguably have been, although not intentionally). And I liked the touch of having the ghost of Bertolt Brecht accompanying Marc Blitzstein’s wife’s ghost as inspirations for the direction he takes in writing and composing the play.I had not heard of this incident in the history of the WPA, or this movie about it, and it seems to have gotten a ho-hum reaction at the box office and by the critics. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would watch it again. It's worth a look if you like movies set in the post-WWII era or are a theatre buff.

This is a really energetic film with a cast of a hundred to exaggerate my point. A theater troupe faces poverty, politics and theatrics! The movie moves forward with a wonderful pace and concludes with a ‘sock it to them’ attitude! It is perfect and really entertaining!

This film is incredibly tiresome and quite boring.The seller of the DVD is totally fine!! No complaints.

I think that Emmie must have pressed the wrong button. I agree with her review - this is an outstanding film, both dramatically and cinematically excellent. It highlights the tensions of the New Deal years of the 1930s when corporate capital was shelling out vast sums to hinder the relief programmes of the FDR administration (for instance, paying a million bucks to successfully burn the slogan The American Way into the public consciousness). But this is far more than a slice of history - the interweaving stories are all quite magical. Bill Murray's ventriloquist, the hilarious Rockerfeller/Rivera battle (note the syphilis cells in the scandalous painting) and the tale of Orson Welles' drama all sit well with the reds under the bed paranoia that raged in the US long before Joe McCarthy and the House Unamerican Activities Committee (and their chief Hollywood stooge, Ronald Reagan). But, socially relevant though this is, it is also a fine and rivetting entertainment. Please change your rating, Emmie!

A remarkable film about a remarkable era in American history and arts. Loose with the facts but completely entertaining.

Tim Robbins 36 million dollar navigation through Marc Blitzstein's hideous bore of a non-musical musical extravaganza. No matter how silly or downright stupid, every moment is left-wing message in a creative patchwork of historical figures that make no sense at all. Oh, and no one went.