IMDb RATING
6.8/10
9.5K
YOUR RATING
A true story of politics and art in the 1930s U.S., focusing on a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.A true story of politics and art in the 1930s U.S., focusing on a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.A true story of politics and art in the 1930s U.S., focusing on a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.
- Awards
- 5 wins & 7 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film is based on actual events, though it takes liberties with the details. Marc Blitzstein's 1937 anti-capitalist operetta 'The Cradle Will Rock', about the effort to unionize steelworkers, was originally produced as part of the Federal Theatre Project. The Federal Theatre Project (1935-1939), in turn, was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which was created in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to employ people during the Great Depression. Directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman, Cradle was shut down right before it was due to open because of "budget cuts" at the FTP. Everyone involved believed the government deliberately cut funding because the play's message offended its more conservative contingent; Actor's Equity prohibited its members from taking part, apparently oblivious to the fact that Cradle was a pro-union piece and Actor's Equity was - and is - a union. Welles, Housman and Blitzstein spontaneously rented another theater and planned to put on Cradle with Blitzstein himself singing/reading the piece; the show sold out and various actors defied Equity and performed their parts from the seats they'd bought. The secondary plot which involved Mexican painter Diego Rivera butting heads with Nelson Rockefeller when the mural the latter commissioned for a Rockefeller Center lobby on the high-minded subject of "human intelligence in control of the forces of nature" included a portrait of Lenin, is also based on fact, though it happened in 1933. The incident is also dramatized in the 2002 film Frida (2002). Tim Robbins included it because it tied into the theme of artistic integrity vs. economic practicality.
- GoofsDiego Rivera's mural in Rockefeller Center was destroyed in February of 1934. The unauthorized performance of "The Cradle Will Rock" took place on 16 June 1937. Hallie Flanagan testified before Congressman Dies' committee on 6 December 1938. For artistic effect, the film makes it seem that the three events occur simultaneously.
- Quotes
Gray Mathers: Get in the car! Now!
Countess LaGrange: Perhaps you've mistaken me for a spaniel.
- Crazy creditsThere is a heart in the credit roll with the following initials inside; SS, EMLA, JHR & MGR (SS is likely 'Susan Sarandon,' EMLA for Sarandon's daughter Eva Amurri, JHR & MGR for Robbins' & Sarandon's sons Jack Henry & Miles Robbins).
- SoundtracksLet's Do Something
Written by Marc Blitzstein
Performed by Erin Hill and Daniel Jenkins (as Dan Jenkins)
Courtesy of RCA Records
Featured review
Lots of fun and educational, up to a point
An all-star production, CRADLE WILL ROCK chronicles the events leading up to the debut of Mark Blitzstein's "The Cradle Will Rock," a labor-oriented drama with music, written in the turbulent 1930s. It is to be performed at the WPA Federal Theater, but the government gets cold feet at the last minute and closes the theater. So the players take their production to a private theater and perform before an SRO crowd. Oddly enough, the performance turns out to be the least interesting part of the film, done up in a "Let's fix up the old barn and put on a show" routine seen in countless Andy Hardy and Little Rascals films. It is what happens before that is fascinating, as we shift back and forth between New York and Washington and are exposed to the "isms" of this post Depression/pre-WWII time: communism and fascism. One supposes most of what writer/director Tim Robbins portrays here is real enough, but keep in mind Robbins is an avowed leftist and so the film is probably best taken with a large dose of salt. But what a cast: John and Joan Cusack, Susan (Mrs. Tim Robbins) Sarandon, Cary Elwes, John Turturro, Jack Black, Bill Murray, Vanessa Redgrave, Ruben Blades and Hank Azaria. All play real-life figures of the era, including Orson Welles and John Rockefeller. A must-see for art-house film lovers and those interested in the period. All others, beware.
helpful•31
- xredgarnetx
- May 10, 2008
- How long is Cradle Will Rock?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Ve Beşik Sallanacak
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $36,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,903,404
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $93,998
- Dec 12, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $2,986,932
- Runtime2 hours 12 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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