iachimo-1 ...a really smart, well-constructed script by Tim Robbins (who also directed) that links the Depression 30s, performing arts, visual arts, commerce, politics, business and the culture (whew!). Robert Altman would be proud at how all these strands came together with great force. The performances are great (Redgrave, the Cusacks, Bill Murray, Cary Elwes, McFadyen, Blades, Cherry Jones, Azaria) all lovingly presented. The art direction and cinematography are impeccable, and the re-creation of the first "performance" of "the runaway opera" is astonishingly accurate - at least in line with the way Houseman tells it in his memoir, "Run-Through." CRADLE's blend of real and fictional characters and historical fact and fiction makes for a piece of stirring, funny, thoughtful storytelling of an important moment in American history.

Manal S. Never thought I'd be interested in a socio-political musical drama!! Somehow Time Robbins managed to make his cause common, and his theme universal. This is the first Robbins-directed movie that I see, but it's VERY enough to prove that he's such a brilliant director! He manages to keep actors perfectly attached to their roles and characters. Seriously, I've never seen such vivid direction, as if each shot speaks for itself and the underlying thematic meaning. When I first read this movie's synopsis, I thought that I'd be completely detached! But somehow, after watching it, I realized that art is a universal call that matters each and every one of us.

xredgarnetx 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.

thespian57 This is more the story of an era rather than the story of a play. The WPA was one of Franklin Roosevelts greatest achievements in an era when not too many people felt great. The federal theatre project was one arm of the WPA. Welle's Mercury theater was part of the FTA. This movie was extremely well researched. Angus McFayden does a great job as Welles. Countering him is Cary Elwes as John Houseman. We recently had this theatre treasure come to us as Professor Kingsfield in "The Paper Chase" film and TV series. Will Geer, part of Welles's group was the grandfather in "The Waltons". Viewers will get a wonderful rendering of a largely forgotten Musical by Marc Blitztein and Bertholt Brecht. "The cradle will rock" is a pro-worker anti-big business piece that rocked the theatre going world in an era where Big Business was largely responsible for the working man's woes. Interwoven within the basic plot of the composition and production of this play are subplots dealing with Mexican painter Diego Rivera (some of whose murals are visible even today) and art dealings by Musolini's mistress.This is a very compelling film well directed and acted. A must see for musical theater students, and just about everyone else.