Ambitious, deeply flawed Cradle Will Rock, written and directed by Tim Robbins. Film Reviews Ambitious, deeply flawed Cradle Will Rock , written and directed by Tim Robbins. By Marty Jonas 13 January 2000 Use this version to print Cradle Will Rock, an ambitious new film written and directed by Tim Robbins, takes place in the US in the late 1930s, at the peak of the Great Depression.
Unemployment is high and breadlines are long.
The Federal Theater, despite its fumbling and stumbling, is a creative hothouse, with a good many left-wing productions being staged. As Orson Welles, the young director fresh from triumphs in theater and radio, tries to stage Blitzstein's work, Dies' committee is hearing testimony from right-wingers and disgruntled WPA employees. They level charges at the Federal Theater that it employs communists and encourages interracial dating. When the head of the Project, Hallie Flanagan, tries to speak in front of the committee, Dies cuts her short and walks off. The Dies committee successfully cuts the budget of the Federal Theater and WPA guards surround the theater.