Cradle Will Rock: The Movie and the Moment (Pictorial Moviebook) - Hardcover

Robbins, Tim; Newman, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 155704399X ISBN 13: 9781557043993

Publisher: Newmarket Press, 1999

Synopsis

Official tie-in to the major motion picture coming from Touchstone Pictures later this year, from the Academy Award-nominated writer-director of Dead Man Walking and Bob Roberts. An extraordinary film, written and directed by Robbins, supported by an amazing cast, about the events in 1936, surrounding the final days of the Federal Theatre Project, when Orson Welles and John Houseman staged a renegade production of Marc Blitzstein's proletariat musical The Cradle Will Rock, which became one of America's greatest moments in the history of American theater.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

The Moment 1937. While Hitler dress rehearses the Holocaust in Europe, Americans face their seventh year of the Great Depression. Social unrest boils over into frequent sit-down strikes and bloody confrontations between hungry workers and management. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA) programs -- providing jobs to millions in construction, public works, and the arts -- are in full swing. But not everyone approves of FDR's tax-soaking, "Socialist" agenda. Of particular concern to conservatives is the Federal Theatre Project, headed by Hallie Flanagan, which lands at the center of a storm of controversy over its "Communist-inspired" productions.

The Movie A fast-paced, rollicking romp through the events surrounding the final, emotionally wrought days of the FTP. Written and directed by Robbins, it is supported by an extraordinary cast that features Hank Azaria, Ruben Blades, Joan Cusack, John Cusack, Cary Elwes, Philip Baker Hall, Cherry Jones, Angus Macfadyen, Bill Murray, Vanessa Redgrave, Susan Sarandon, Jamey Sheridan, John Turturro, and Emily Watson. The larger-than-life characters populating the film include Nelson Rockefeller, William Randolph Hearst, Diego Rivera, and Orson Welles and John Houseman, who stage a renegade production of Marc Blitzstein's pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, creating one of the most dramatic moments in the history of American theatre.

The Book This Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook captures the pace, excitement, and color of the movie experience -- but provides greater detail about the historical and cultural context in which these amazing events took place. In accessible prose, it explores the psychological split in this country overNew Deal policies; the uneasy relationship between corporate power and the arts; the forces of Communism and Fascism abroad and their influence on workers here; and the connection between a struggling Europe preparing for war and industrial opportunism in America. Included here are:

-- The complete shooting script, an introduction, and notes on the making of the film by Tim Robbins

-- Thirty illuminating historical sidebars that reveal the real history of the events depicted in the film

-- More than 120 illustrations -- over 70 in full color -- including 34 archival photos and 115 movie stills and behind-the-scenes photos

-- Commentary from principal cast members

-- The complete cast and crew credits

From the Back Cover:

CRADLE WILL ROCK: The Movie and The Moment includes more than 120 movie and archival photos, the complete shooting script, and notes about the making of the film and its historical sources.

About this edition

• Publisher: Newmarket Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 155704399X
• ISBN 13: 9781557043993
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160