In
1932, with an unemployment of about 33 percent, American voters
elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be president. To put
people back to work, one of the earliest innovations was the
Works Progress Administration, which provided federal funds
for various projects, mostly for construction. One WPA project,
the Federal Theater Project, re-employed theatrical workers
around the country. The film Cradle Will Rock
focuses on the fate of a leftist musical of the same name
(minus the prefatory "The") written by Marc Blitzstein (played
by Hank Azaria). Directed by Tim Robbins, who won Political
Film Society awards for Bob Roberts (1992) and
Dead Man Walking (1996), the movie shifts back
and forth in the manner of a documentary between street protests
for a forty-hour work week, the management of the Federal
Theater Project, theatrical personnel trying to launch the
production, fat-cat wheeler-dealers of the era, and the House
Un-American Activities Committee investigation of the Federal
Theater. The rapid changes of scene depict the emotions and
turmoil of the era, and several scenes are particularly memorable.
Police brutally break up a street rally. Nelson Rockefeller
(played by John Cusack) asks Diego Rivera (played by Rubén
Blades) to paint a mural as the centerpiece for the opening
of Rockefeller Center but then balks when he sees a portrait
of Lenin and has the mural destroyed. Margherita Sarfatti
(played by Susan Sarandon), an Italian Jew, sells world-famous
paintings from Italian galleries to William Randolph Hearst
(played by John Carpenter), who was not interested in the
fact that the proceeds of the art sale would return to finance
such projects as the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini's Italy.
Hallie Flanagan (played by Cherry Jones), as top administrator
of the Federal Theater Project, testifies before HUAC, which
is concerned about the content of several plays. As the film
begins, Federal Theater Project's budget is cut 33 percent
(presumably, as we learn later, to force the firing of Communists
and nonfunding of leftist productions). Actors and actresses
are selected for "The Cradle Will Rock" musical, to be directed
by Orson Welles (played by Angus MacFadyen) after his Broadway
triumph of directing Doctor Faustus. But the union representing
the performers does not want to be accused of being Communist,
so all actors are forbidden to appear in the musical, and
the theater doors are chained. Realizing that Blitzstein is
not a member of the union, the production company decides
to relocate to another theater, where he can perform the musical
solo. As he begins to sing the part of the female lead, she
suddenly stands up in the audience to sing her part, and members
of the cast follow suit, so the musical is performed after
all. However, those who have seen Nelson Rockefeller, Orson
Welles, and others on the screen before, will wonder why the
characters in Cradle Will Rock make no effort
to portray their mannerisms; what therefore might be perceived
as bad acting is a clue that some of the major events are
true but the dialog and story line is fictional. What the
film appears to say, in recalling this fascinating era of
American turmoil and ideological posturing, is that efforts
to ban artistic creations in the name of political correctness
are nothing new. MH
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