You can roll it!
Italy stands poised to invade Ethiopia...
under the leadership of Benito Mussolini.
In a speech to thousands of supporters last week, Mussolini recalled...
the glory of Roman empires past,
calling on his supporters to join with him to
reclaim lands rightfully belonging to them.
Facing Mussolini's highly mobilized war machine is Haiie Selassie of Ethiopia,
who must rely on high-spirited but poorly armed tribal forces...
to defend his monarchy.
In a concerted effort to rid Germany of what he views as degenerate influences,
Chancellor Adolph Hitler last week opened an exhibition of condemned art.
A dabbler in oils and water colors himself,
Chancellor Hitler said in a statement that he is not anti-art but anti-decadence...
and despises art that portrays Germany in a negative and unsympathetic fashion.
Here at home, American spirits continue to rebound from economic hard times...
with jobs made possible by Washington, D.C.
Fear is vanishing...
and confidence is growing on every side.
With the press of a button, Roosevelt puts into operation the Tennessee Valley Dam,
a monumental accomplishment that provides flood control...
and electricity to the southern states.
Another stunning achievement made possible by
the millions of unemployed men and women...
put back to work by the Works Progress Administration.
Things are looking up indeed for Americans,
as we look to the future with hope and high vision.
Fashion designers for years have competed for the attention and discerning eye...
of the female consumer.
Everything from bathing suits to evening gowns have been designed for the female form.
- But what about junior? - Hey, Dave, is that you?
Children's fashion was the star in Miami, Florida, this week.
Everything from underwear to evening wear graced the tiny runways...
as discerning children took notice of the threads coming their way.
Better not ask this little guy to wear a tie. Mommy!
If dog is man's best friend, then perhaps the cat is this lady's chum.
A very large cat indeed.
The Magnificent Wanda and her lion, Kitty,
helped initiate the Federal Theater's circus project last week.
The latest in a series of low-cost entertainments...
produced by the maverick W.P.A. program.
- Hey! - Vaudeville, Shakespeare and lion tamers.
Brought to you by Uncle Sam, courtesy of the W.P.A..
And stay out, you runt!
♪ Each little tear and sorrow ♪
♪ Only brings you closer to me ♪
♪ just wait until tomorrow ♪
♪ What a happy day that will be ♪
- Song for a nickel, mister? - What?
- I'll sing you a song for a nickel. - No, thank you.
♪ Somewhere the sun is shining ♪
♪ So, honey don't you cry ♪
♪ Closer to me ♪
♪ Just wait until tomorrow ♪
♪ What a happy day that will be ♪
♪ Come up to my room ♪
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ I ain't in Steeltown long ♪
♪ I work two days a week ♪
♪ The other five my efforts ain't required ♪
♪ For two days out of seven ♪
♪ Two dollar bills I'm given ♪
♪ So I'm just searchin ♪
♪ Along the street ♪
♪ For on those five days ♪
♪ Five days ♪
♪ For on those five days ♪
♪ It's nice to eat ♪
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ Who said let's eat ♪
Titanic. It was amazing. It was-
So, it was the most exciting thing in my life.
- Negroes, dear? - Yes, Negroes.
- All Negroes? - All Negroes, clear.
- It was a minstrel show? - No. Macbeth.
I said it before. Macbeth. Shakespeare.
- With Negroes? - Yes.
Carlo says it's unlucky to say Macbeth in the theater.
So what do they call it? What is it, Carlo? "The Scottish play."
Yes, the Scottish play, but there isn't anything Scottish in this production.
I don't know a lot of Negro Scots.
Oh, Gray dear, you don't know a lot of Negro anything.
Madame?
Oh, dear. I know. I had a call last night.
- Not you, thank God. - What is?
Steel strike. Labor riots.
Well, the reception for the Italian exhibit is today, noon.
- Italian exhibit at noon. - Please don't be late.
Carlo and I are going to see a theatrical producer today. - Mm, theatrical producer?
- To learn about the artistic process. - Artistic process?
- Yes. - What time is the exhibit?
Noon. Heh heh heh!
I'll be there, darling.
- Dad, when is Mommy coming home? - In a couple of days.
- "Churn?" - C-H-U-R-N.
- What's the baby's name? - "Person."
- P-E-R-S-O-N. - What's the baby's name?
- Antonio. You like that? - Yeah.
- A-l-N-T-l-N-O? - What?
Excuse me, miss. Is this line for to get job?
- I think so. - I am carpenter. I work with my hands.
- It is good government wants to build. - Yeah.
- I build with wood. What you do? - Yeah?
I think this might be the wrong line. This line is for theater.
- It's for actors and musicians, I believe. - You're actress?
Yeah. Is this the right line for the Federal Theater Project?
I think this is the line for everything.
- Are there other lines? - There's other lines inside.
- Are there lines for theater jobs inside? - I believe so.
I work anywhere. I dig ditches, pour slag, act. - Flanagan?
- Does not matter. - Mrs. Flanagan!
Mrs. Flanagan.
- Aren't you Hallie Flanagan? - Yes. Mr.-
- Beaver. I'm a beaver. - Mr. Beaver, what can I do for you?
Well, I'm completely embarrassed, but I heard you'd be here today,
and I'm a playwright, and I've written a children's play.
It's called Revolt of the Beavers, and I want to know if you'd read it.
Absolutely. You have to fill out submission forms. - I did. They're all inside.
It's got great music. I'd be happy to play it for you. I-I'll be back.
They say, "Okay, we want to do what you do. " I say, "Fine. Take 30 years.
Do nothing else, and then maybe.“
I am not a teacher. I am an entertainer.
What's the problem? - Mr. Crickshaw works at the vaudeville project,
and he's complaining about the policy there.
I'm supposed to tutor two no-talents. It's impossible!
Mr. Crickshaw we were hoping that you would introduce young people to vaudeville...
and encourage them to take it up and prolong its life.
"Prolong its life”?"
Vaudeville will be around long after you and your Communists are.
Hallie, you have a meeting.
Two Chinese gentlemen in native dress came by last night,
want you to start a Chinese theater.
Very polite. They'll come again. Also, you got a call yesterday...
saying that we can't hire an elephant for the Brooklyn circus.
- Why not? - They're not eligible for relief.
- Hallie. Welcome home. How was your trip? - Great.
- I have wonderful things to report. - Did you hear about the elephant?
Not eligible for relief. - Also, a guy in a squirrel outfit's been trying to see you.
- Beaver. He's a beaver, a playwright. - What? Oh, playwright.
Also, there's trouble in Minnesota.
Seems an ex-fan dancer auditioned for the Federal Theater there.
Fan dancer? - Burlesque, takes her clothes off, you know.
So she auditions, doesn't get the job, but the papers run a photo of her...
- saying the Federal Theater... - Is now employing strippers.
- Pierre! - Hello, darling.
I trust you're not too tired from touring the U.S.A.
I have seen such great theater. So inspiring.
- Have you heard the rumors? - About the stripper?
Stripper, no. People from Washington snooping around our files.
- All this talk about Congressman Dies. - Dies as in death?
- Something about a subcommittee. - No. It's news to me. Hello, everybody!
♪ Go stand on someone's neck ♪
♪ While you're takin' ♪
♪ Cut 'mm somebody's throat as you put ♪
♪ For every dream and schemes ♪
♪ Depending on whether:
♪ All through the storm ♪
♪ You've kept it warm ♪
♪ The nickel under your foot ♪
Who's singing?
A prostitute. She's starving. She sells herself for food.
She thinks she feels a nickel under her foot,
but when she reaches for it, there's nothing there.
She's that... hungry. You hate that, don't you?
I didn't say that. I didn't say anything.
I- I'm not here.
You haven't slept in two days. Go to sleep.
- Ooh! Oh. I'm so sorry. - Ooh! Oh!
- Are you all right? - Yes. Oh!
Oh!
- Countess! - Jack! Jack, I found the play charming.
Utterly darling. And the idea of setting the Scottish play in the Caribbean.
Ah, yes.. - Carlo commented afterward he'd never seen anything like it.
And he's from Vienna, you know.
I would be very interested to cultivate a relationship with yourself, Mr. Welles and Carlo.
- What's the name of your opera, dear? - Le Cordonier Desespere.
The Cobler In Despair. He sings passages from it to me all the time.
- He can't seem to get it out of his head. - Yes.
- Poor Carlo. Such a sad man. - Shh!
His store of pleasures must be sauced with pain!
Now, worthy Faustus, me thinks your looks are changed.
- Gentlemen. - What ails Faustus?
Look, sirs, comes he not? Comes he not?
Yet, Faustus, look up to Heaven.
- Hey, cue lightning! Goddamn it, Abe. - Cue lightning!
That's late. If the cue is late, it will get a laugh.
We do not need this laugh. It's a stupid, embarrassing laugh.
Concentrate, folks. Now, do it again.
Yet, Faustus, look up to Heaven!
Which one is Mr. Welles?
He's the, um, ranting madman with the Blue Boy wig.
I gave up my soul for my cunning.
That's my cue.
- It's not your line. - What's my line?
- It's Bart's line. Bert, say your line. - No, it's his.
- Say the line! - Oh, God forbid!
- Break time. Break time!
Union break! Fifteen minutes!
The date is expired. The hell with the theater, and the hell with you.
I've got to go have a coffee and a fart.
Never mind that for the first time in this goddamn rehearsal process...
we were in the middle of a discovery essential to making the play work!
I... need... a smoke!
You're not actors, you're smokers!
You wouldn't know the church of the theater if it smacked you in the mouth!
Shut up, Orson, or I'll smack you in the mouth. - Fuck you, John!
You're not a believer, you're a worker.
Damn right. And you're not a director. You're a dictator!
You're atheists! You have no respect for the theater!
This isn't a game! This isn't a goddamn cocktail party!
- This is work! It's hard work! - Blah, blah, blah, blah.
And if you're not willing to give your blood to it,
then it isn't worth it because you'll never make theater...
with your coffee latch union breaks.
You will make... pageants...
without truth, without soul!
Bloodless, sweat less, shallow,
lily-white pageants...
Signifying nothing!
I'm going, Jack!
You can give them a two-hour-long smoke. We'll pick up...
with the Seven Deadly Sins.
Right! He has his moments.
He is busto, multidissimo.
It's so fascinating. I've always wanted to observe the process of art-making.
So what happens now? - Now we wait for the prima donna to return.
- Willie! - Sandra!
- Baby! - Where have you been?
- Oh, good grief. - Excuse me, El Mr. Houseman?
- I have to go to the hospital. - The hospital? Are you hurt?
No, no, no. Hello. My wife just had a child. - How do you do?
- Oh, congratulations! - Thank you.
Countess, may I introduce a supporting member of our cast-Aldo Silvano.
- Plays the role of, um- - I'm the fourth scholar.
- Fourth scholar, yes. - Wonderful.
This ain't no political meeting house. This is a damn theater.
We're not doin' nothing here but entertaining and making people laugh.
Well, I'm making people laugh. Get me up.
Mrs. Flanagan wants me to teach those Reds how to make people laugh.
- Forget it. You? - Nothing funny about Communists.
- There's nothing funny about you. - Reds are glum, serious people.
What about that Stinky Magoo? He was funny. He wasn't a Communist.
Oh, most certainly was. As Red as a rooster's crown.
Melvin, you don't know what you're talking about. Stinky Magoo was a Republican.
- He was Red, Tommy. - No, he wasn't.
- Yes, he was. - No, he wasn't.
You would know. - He was not a Red! Stinky Magoo was a Republican!
He was funny!
Well... he was funny. You're right about that.
- God rest his soul. - May he make God laugh.
Hear, hear.
Mr. Crickshaw, hi-Ioo.
Uh, we are ready for our tutorial.
- We 're ready for our tutorial. - We 're ready to learn how to be funny.
And how to do the mouth thing.
It is fantastic, this art form that embraces the future,
shatters convention and uses color to create an exquisite sensuality, huh?
It looks all cut up.
- Shapes distributed geometrically. - Exactly.
- What does it mean? - It means whatever you want it to mean.
The Futurists, they exist in the realm of emotion-
the Eros, not the intellect.
Ah, yes, Eros. I particularly like the sensuality of the colors.
- Mmm, mmm. - This one has interesting colors too.
Well, you have a very good eye, Mr. Mathers.
Gray Gray?
- My name, not the color. - Ah.
- Is that a Modigliani? - Yes, it is.
Nelson Rockefeller, meet Margherita Sarfatti,
- cultural emissary to Premier Mussolini. - Piacere.
- Enchante. - Delighted to see you, Nelson.
Mr. Mather-s. Mr. Hearst, always a pleasure. Good to see you, Mary.
Premier Mussolini is very thankful to you and your family...
for your generous contribution for the museum.
I understand that you... are personally responsible...
for bringing the exhibition here.
Well, my motives are purely selfish, madame.
I've never been lucky enough in my life...
to stand inches away from a da Vinci or a Michelangelo.
Ah, how does it feel?
Extraordinary.
Nelson can be very helpful in the oil department as well. - Really?
There I go again jumping the gun,
ruining a perfectly civil conversation on art by getting to the point.
Eh, Margherita?
I must confess, I'm more interested in the oil in paint than the oil in derricks.
Ah, bravo! Bravo!
- I understand you know Diego Rivera. - Mmm.
Paris, wild times.
- I am to see him today. - Ah.
- Any tips? - Swing left, stay sober.
He was once a cannibal, you know.
- What? - Yes.
Never before has the link between government and industry...
been so obvious and so dangerous.
Five dead.
Two shot in the back. Twenty-seven injured...
by the blackjack; And fists of the strike breakers.
And who were the attackers?
- Thugs? Pinkertons? - No! No!
No, ladies and gentlemen. The murderers last night were government employees!
Policemen killing and beating the very citizens who pay their wage.
Lending their nightsticks...
and guns to the industrialists, to the strike breakers!
I think it's time...
What is your play about? - What are your plays about? What's Threepenny Opera about?
- What is your play about? - It's about a prostitute, uh, poverty.
That's survival. That is not enough.
What about the other prostitutes?
You don't have to be poor to be a whore. Look around you.
In the mansions, in the churches, in the universities.
Everyone is corruptible, even your union leaders.
- The cradle of power is rocking! - Yeah!
♪ Now who's the dummy? ♪
♪ Now who's the dummy? Now who's the dummy?
- Now who's the dummy? - Now who's The dummy?
- Now who's the dummy? - Now who's the dummy?
- Stop!
You want to use... the back of your mouth.
Try again.
Now who's the dummy?
Now... who's the dummy?
- Now who's the dummy? - Now who's the dummy?
- Now- - Cut!
Your mouth is moving.
If your mouth is moving, the effect is ruined.
Try to keep your lips immobile.
Mmm, mmm, the dummy?
Now who's the dummy?
Mmm, mmm, mm mm-mm.
"Federal Theater's touring show, Broadway Bandwagon, rolled into Peoria last night,"
and for two hours, gaiety and glamor...
"obscured thoughts of drought and other financial worries."
Peoria Star. They performed Dubuque, Waterloo,
Eau Claire, Sheboygan, Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids.
And I saw it in a high school in Manitowoc.
3,000 students seeing their first play with live actors. It was very exciting.
I just got a letter from the director of the Portland, Oregon, project.
Their debut was a resounding success. Sold-out shows every night.
Denver's a week away from opening Rakes Progress. That'll be Colorado's debut.
- It Can? Happen Here? - It is happening.
It Can? Happen here it's a steamroller.
We have a commitment from the Detroit project.
Also, the Seattle Negro Company's in.
And Brooklyn is doing a version in Yiddish.
Twenty-one productions of It Can't Happen Here in 17 states.
- Same play, all opening on the same day. - Great.
- A national theater, Hallie. - Birmingham, Boston, Chicago, Detroit,
Newark, Bridgeport, Yonkers, Staten Island, Tampa,
- Wooster, Cleveland, Los Angeles- - ♪ That's how beavers ♪
♪ Make their living since the day they left the ark ♪
- Miami, Omaha, Seattle, San Francisco... - “And we clip, clip, clip I“
♪ And we stack, stack, stack And we pack, pack, pack ♪
♪ And we strip it and we clip it and we stack it and we pack it ♪
I-“And we work, work, work all day ♪
- So did he stomp his feet? - A couple of times.
He sounds like such a child.
Let's not talk about Orson. Let's talk about Antonio.
Hmm? Antonio?
You don't like it?
No, I like it.
You're beautiful, hmm?
That's your mama. She made you.
She's amazing.
You're the artist.
Thank you. I take pride in my work.
- Your mother. - There's only one voice like it.
- I thought I'd find you in a room. - Shh! This is a room.
A bigger room, yes. I thought I'd find you without so many people.
- We couldn't afford that. - Oh! Poverino.
If your papa had a better job, you could get a better room.
Mama, don't start. Speak good things in front of my son, please.
So many people. Someone could be sick.
- Say hello to Sophie. - Hello, Sophie.
- Hello, Mama. - Oh, look at that face.
And today I saw Mr. Welles throw a tantrum in front of his new cast.
They're mostly white. He was so passionate.
I'm sure. You're late, you know.
Oh, have I missed much? Have any of the paintings moved?
- Most of the people have. - Look. Da Vinci.
- Da Vinci. - Splendid.
Hearst says that the Federal Theater is full of Reds.
Communists? I can't imagine that to be true. - Communists?
- Hearst is a smart man. - Yes, and I suppose I'm a dim woman.
No, no, no, I didn't say that.
Could Mr. Hearst explain to me the Communist implications...
of the Scottish play in the Caribbean?
Ah, Margherita Sarfatti, my wife,
- the perpetually late Countess La Grange. - Charmed.
- Likewise. - Buona sera. Je suis Carlo.
- Oh, thank you. - Grazie.
Your husband has an excellent eye for art.
You're a lucky woman to have such a cultured man.
Oh, blessed really.
- Margherita, we must go. - Ah. Countess.
- Gray. - Miss Sarfatti.
It has been a pleasure talking to you.
And you can assure your trade representative that Mather's Steel...
will put frames on Italian trucks as long as wheels turn.
It will be deeply appreciated.
Anything we can do to stop the spread of Communism in Europe is in our own best interest.
Thank you. Good day.
- Ciao. - Countess, Gray.
- Good-bye. - Marion.
- Did you just make a business deal? - No, dear.
But you said you'd put frames on Italian trucks.
That is none of your business, clear.
Mr. Darwin claims that it took 100,000 years for a man to make a monk-
for a monk-for a man-for nature to make a monkey out of a man.
That's nothing. A man can make a woman can make a monkey out of a man in an hour.
- That's true. - Like your wife made a monkey out of you.
Melvin, people don't have to know that.
With the merchant marine. Or was it a bricklayer? - All right.
Those are my jokes that you're butchering. My act.
I know you two probably don't believe in personal property.
But this is not Russia. This is not rice or grain.
It is my property, my act.
You do not do another entertainer's act.
It is not... done.
- Understood? - Okay. Yes, sir.
Now who's the dummy?
I saw in the paper that that Welles you work with is the voice of the Shadow.
- I like-a that show. - Martha learns English from that show.
"The Shadow knows." - Bravo."
- So he's famous, right? - Yeah, he works a lot.
- So he's got lots of money, right? - Yes.
- So, uh... why don't you do that? - I'd like to.
- So what's stopping you? - Well, you gotta get the job.
Well, apply for it, huh? You know, you wait on line for it.
- It doesn't work that way. - You're lazy.
You gotta get up early, wait on line.
Early bird catches the worm.
No, no, no, you don't wait on line for a theater job, all right?
Mama, give me Antonio.
- You, you audition. - Shh, shh, shh.
- You try out. - Shh, shh, shh.
- You read, okay? Right, Antonio? - There we go.
- Yeah, there we go. - You pretend to be the character, huh?
- You don't wait on line. - There you go. With his papa.
- I gotta go pick the kids up at school. - They're at Vincent's today.
- No, no. I'm taking them to rehearsal. - Sure?
Mm-hmm. All right? Good-bye, Antonio.
Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
I love you, my artist.
♪ Listen ♪
♪ Here's a story ♪
♪ Not much fun and not much glory ♪
♪ Low class ♪
♪ Low-down ♪
♪ The thing you never care to see ♪
♪ Until there is a showdown ♪
IOne big question inside me ♪
♪ Cries ♪
♪ How many faker ♪
♪ Peace undertakers ♪
♪ Paid strike breakers ♪
♪ How many toiling ailing, dying ♪
♪ Filed-up bodies, brother:
♪ Does it take to make... you ♪
♪ Wise ♪
- It's very serious. - Where's the irony? Where's the humor?
What about the other prostitutes?
You 're whores! You 're prostitutes!
You're a whore! You're a prostitute of the state!
The policemen are whores! You're...
♪ Bought a house, a lot a limousine, a swanky yard ♪
♪ My champagne would fill up any cellar ♪
♪ Oh, hum, there goes the alarm clock ♪
♪ Gotta get up and go to work again ♪
♪ Acting awfully bored I loaned a buck from Henry Ford ♪
♪ Broke a date with john D. Rockefeller ♪
♪ Oh, hum, there goes the alarm clock ♪ - Mr. Rivera.
- Si. - Mr. Diego Rivera?
- Si. - I'm Nelson Rockefeller.
I bring greetings from Margherita Sarfatti. She says she knows you.
- Yes. Paris, wild times. - I saw her today.
Yes. - She's an exquisite woman with wonderful tastes in art.
Would you like something to drink or something to eat? - No.
- Frida, Senor Rockefeller. - Madame.
Please come in.
- So? - So.
- So? - So, um...
I've chosen your sketch for mural composition...
to be included in the... lobby...
of said Rockefeller Center.
Now, as you may know, the theme for the piece is "Man At the Crossroads",
Looking With Hope and High Vision...
to the Choosing of a New and Better Future."
And, uh... that's the theme of the piece,
and we'd just be thrilled to death to have you do it.
- How much? - 21,000.
All inclusive, materials and assistants.
- Would you like a drink? - Yes.
♪ There is not a barkless beaver Not in all of ♪
♪ Beaver Land ♪
Bravo! Bravo.
I think children are going to love this. When can you start rehearsing?
Tomorrow. - Rose, will you put these two beavers in motion.
Hallie, the opening.
We can't be late. Mr. Hopkins will be there.
Ask Harry for more money, Hallie.
- Next. - That's me.
And your name?
Olive Stanton.
- Your address? - Oh, I don't have one.
- Are you currently employed? - No, ma'am.
You are applying for work at the Federal Theater Project.
What experience do you have in the theater?
Oh, um... I sing on Broadway...
Well, I've sung on Broadway.
Mm-hmm. Last employer?
- Excuse me? - Last employer?
Last producer of a show you were in so we can contact him?
Um...
He's dead.
His name?
Oh, um...
Mr. Smith-Minsky-Smith.
You've probably never heard of him. It was in Buffalo.
We can check.
I'm sorry. There wasn't any Smith.
Um... I'm just a gal that needs a break is all.
I've been working on the street singing for nickels, and I need a job.
I can sing real well, and I'd work hard.
Sister, this program is designed for theater professionals who are out of work.
We have limited resources. We can't possibly employ all of the professionals.
This isn't a Busby Berkeley fantasy, "make you a star, kid" and all that."
Are you strong?
- Ma'am? - Are you strong?
- Can you lift things? - Yes, ma'am.
Project 891 needs a stagehand.
Do you know what a stagehand does? Completely unglamorous work.
Push a broom, lift scenery, pull ropes, that sort of thing.
- Are you interested? - Yes, ma'am. You bet.
You are not eligible for casting in any plays. Do you understand that?
Here's the address, and report tomorrow between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
- Oh, can I go today? - Go bananas.
Thank you.
Well, sure, if you're in a coal mine or a steel mill or a dangerous job,
I can see the need for a break every hour or so.
- What are you saying? - Nothing. I'm with you, Orson.
- This is theater. - We're not risking our lives here.
We're not pouring slag.
The other side of that is 20-hour days, low wages, no protection.
It would help if you didn't stop rehearsal to call for breaks, john.
These are actors we're talking about, not garment workers.
This is not the Triangle Fire. It's a play.
No one is trying to oppress anyone here. We're trying to get a show up.
Once the show is up, well, we can work for what... Two! Two hours!
Easy street! - Two hours acting, eight hours lookin' for another job.
- What? Frank? - No, sorry. Sorry.
Yeah. And should management insist that we work an eight-hour day...
- once the show is up? - Don't touch me.
It's ridiculous! Hah!
And now, if you don't mind, I'd like you to get back to work!
Bring in the puppets!
We're in a jail cell. Steeltown, U.S.A.
Moll, our prostitute, has been arrested.
She's sitting there, depressed and hungry, when the door opens.
Who should walk in but the real whores, the creme de la creme of Steeltown,
doctor specialist, editor of the newspaper, president of the university,
- Reverend Salvation- - And an artist or two.
Don't forget, they are the biggest whores. Right, right, right.
And they're all in handcuffs. They've all been arrested by some dolt cop...
who made a mistake, thought they were union organizers.
Think what my people would think if they could see me.
Phone to Mr. Mister to come and bail us out.
Who is Mr. Mister? - He's the big cheese. He pulls the strings in Steeltown.
♪ So Mr. Mister please take pity ♪
♪ Come and save your pet committee ♪
♪ From disaster ♪
- I'm coming about the leaflet. - Yes?
- I'm here for the meeting. - Come in.
- Tommy Crickshaw, ventriloquist. - Oh.
Did you bring your dummy?
I prefer to think of him as a... puppet. I never leave him.
Well, we're just getting started, Mr. Crickshaw. If you?! have a seat.
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Hazel Huffman, and I want to thank you for coming.
It is my hope that tonight we can create a forum...
where people can talk freely without fear of recrimination.
Don't worry. Powerful people are interested in what we have to say.
I know for a fact there's a certain congressman...
who would like to know if problems exist in the Federal Theater.
I, for one, am ready to talk.
I an": Sloth-.
- From salvation. - I am Envy.
- I am Covetousness. - I'm Pride.
I am Gluttony.
- They're scary. - They're sins.
Daddy, how come you're not doing a puppet?
- Mr. Welles doesn't want me to. - What part do you play?
The fourth Scholar.
It's a very... important role.
Lechery!
- Well, hello, my darling. - Hi, Harry. Welcome.
- You know Paul Edwards. - Yes. Hello, Hallie.
I'm sorry I'm late. Bridge worker negotiations.
I trust Roosevelt is treating you well.
Juggling three agencies, the bureaucratic wonder: Harry Hopkins.
Everything from cleaning children's teeth to controlling mosquitoes.
Harry, what are these whispers I'm hearing about Congressman Dies?
Whispers? It's a roar. He announces tomorrow...
a committee to investigate Communism in the W.P.A.
- Oh, dear. Why didn't you tell me? - I'm telling you.
" Un-American activities" he calls it. I wouldn't worry.
Dies is a blowhard. This is just a bunch of politicians looking for headlines.
What about this mixed-race dating?
Has anyone else noticed this happening in theater groups?
I have noticed that the people in the Federal Theater...
hobnob always with Negroes,
throwing parties with them left and right.
The problem that I have personally with the W. P.A...
and with the arts projects in particular...
is that they seem to be run by people that are very elitist, very snobby-like.
I've noticed this too.
Personally, I don't think there is any room to advance, if you don't agree with them,
if you're not the same as them in politics,
if you don't have, politics-wise, the same mind.
And besides,
Reds aren't funny.
I just don't think they're funny.
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ What a little moonlight can do ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ What a little moonlight can do to you ♪
♪ You're in love ♪
♪ Your heart's a-flutterin' all day long ♪
♪ You only stutter 'cause your poor tongue ♪
J just will not get outta the way ♪
♪ I... love... you ♪
- Can I have some punch, please? - Yes, certainly.
And the Negro had the nerve to call me on the telephone and ask me for a date.
That's with that Communist program.
- Social equality and race merging. - That's right!
Punch, Mr. Crickshaw?
Yes. Thank you very much, Miss Huffman.
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ What a little moonlight can do ♪
♪ Wait a while till a little moonbeam ♪
♪ Comes peepin' through ♪
♪ You'll get sold ♪
♪ You can't resist him ♪
♪ -“And all you've said when you have kissed him is ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ What a little moonlight can do ♪
Oh boy, oh boy, I just been grilled.
- I also have been barbecued and frizzled. - Who's that?
- It's Larry Foreman, the union leader. - I like this, Marc.
He comes into the jail and sees all these rich people sitting there.
Say, what's the whole Liberty Committee doing in the pokey?
- And on the wrong side of the bars? - That's the one you want.
He's a Red, an agitator. - Mr. Mister tries to bribe him, but he tells him to get lost.
He won't sell out his union. These people are marching on the jail.
Kill him! Lynch him!
♪ And it's going to surround you ♪
♪ No wonder those storm birds ♪
♪ Seem to circle around you ♪
♪ Well, you can't climb down and you can't sit still ♪
♪ That's a storm that's gonna last ♪
♪ Until the final wind blows ♪
♪ And when the wind blows ♪
♪ The cradle will rock ♪
Bravo!
- Well, I think it is terrific Jack. - Thank you.
Thank you. - Marc, you have written something groundbreaking here.
Never before, to my knowledge, has an American musical...
dealt with content and social issues and dramatic themes.
- You are reinventing musical theater. - Wow! Thank you.
Orson? Don't over design this.
- Keep it pure and keep it simple. - You have my word, Madam Flanagan.
- I'll be checking in. - Congratulations, Marc!
Auditions are tonight at 6:00.
Score will be left with the pianist if anybody wants to learn the songs.
Thank you. - Augusta, you make a reservation at Twenty-One?
- Yes, Orson. - Jack, Marc, come with me.
- Madam Flanagan, will you join us? - At Twenty-One?
Whoo! It's too rich for my blood. I can see the headlines now.
"Civil Servant Dining At Twenty-One On Your Tax Dollars."
- Oh, perils of officialdom. - Orson.
Yeah? - What role does a Negro actor play in this all-white production?
All-white, ridiculous. You'll play the Reverend Salvation.
- A white Protestant. - In makeup.
In a world of Amos and Andy, you can play a white Protestant. Makeup, my friend.
- Subversion! - Quit worrying, Marc. Don't worry.
- Marc! - Coming, coming.
- Mr. Houseman, I'm Olive Stanton. - I know you.
- You're a stagehand. - And I'm an actress.
I'd like to, with your permission, sir, if it'd be possible to audition.
Audition? I don't know.
Are you out of your mind? We're being investigated by Congress.
- We can't do this play. - Why not?
Greedy industrialist who's brought down by the working man.
It's pro-union, yes, but so is our audience.
A stage full of marching workers trample the capitalist. - They don't trample him.
- It's an attack on capitalism. - Not at all. It's an attack on greed.
It's a good play. It's funny, it's moving and the music is great.
- So stop fretting. - I see glass!
- Glass? - A stage of glass.
Yes! Don't ask me why, but-
Whoa! There's something about standing on a surface of glass-
the risk of it, the potential for injury.
It'll be completely safe, of course. Thick, safe glass!
Twenty-One Club, please.
- The Cradle Will Rock is spectacular! - Glass?
Yes. Stage of glass, yeah. Are you Communist, Marc?
Perhaps we should talk about the auditions, - You know, are you Red?
What we're looking for in each of the roles. - Officially, no, Orson.
I'm a homosexual. That excludes me from membership in the party.
I am faithful to the ideals of the party.
I am faithful to the party of ideas.
No, you are faithful to the idea of a party. - Sparkling wit, jack.
- I thought you were married, Marc. - No, no. Shh!
- My wife passed away, uh, last year. - Mm.
Diego!
Diego, are you getting everything you need?
I need burnt cypress embers.
Oh. I'll send for some.
You know, Diego, I think at first I was a bit unrealistic with my expectations.
I am glad you're taking your time.
Certainly, Michelangelo took his time with the Sistine Chapel.
I only work three months, not much.
Three months, on and off.
I've come to understand a great deal about art with this experience.
- Mira, vete para el carajo. - Frida, porta re bien.
Diego, what is that...
emanating from the man in the center?
That's a recombination of atoms, the division of a cell.
Those are germs, bacteria, cells... The wonders of the microscope.
- That's fascinating. - Mm.
It's so modern. And this large, uh-
Looks like a magnifying glass of some kind? People are staring at it.
That's the latest invention... The television.
- Yes, I know television. - Beamed visual radio.
Imagine the potential for education.
And these well-dressed people here, what is that?
What do you see?
Oh, I get it. Picasso played this game with me too.
All right.
I see..
High society at a party of some kind.
- That's it! - Ha!
The decadent rich. Above their heads,
that's a syphilis cell.
Syphilis cell? The rich in general?
- No. In specific. - You're not talking about me, are you?
- But you don't have syphilis, do you? - No, of course not.
No, I don't.
Up top there, is that a war of some kind?
That's a battlefield. Men in the holocaust of war.
And beneath it,
unemployed workers being beaten by the police.
Do you like it?
♪ You can't stop the weather not with all your dough ♪
♪ For when the wind blows and when the wind blows ♪
♪ The cradle will rock ♪
I gotta run. My son's birthday.
I need the last audition possible tonight, all right? Thanks.
- It's yours, Aldo. - ♪ Of Honolulu ♪
Olive, isn't it?
Yeah.
I'm John Adair. - I know. You're a great actor. I've been watching you.
Thanks.
Did you like the play?
I liked it. I thought it was interesting.
Felt it could've gone farther. Actually, I thought it was pretty silly.
- Where do you stand on Spain? - Spain?
Franco or the Loyalists?
Uh, I don't know.
What, did you just crawl out from under a rock?
That's a joke. I'm sorry. I was kidding.
A lot of people don't know.
Spain's being attacked by Fascists from Italy and Nazis from Germany.
- Bid your family toodle- - Oh, to be young.
Unbelievable. At it again.
Like bunnies, God bless 'em.
"Oh, what a bursting out there was, and what a blossoming..."
when we had all the summertime...
and she had all the spring.“
- Roosevelt isn't doing a thing about it. - Oh, okay.
That's terrible. I don't know so much.
I- I had no idea.
I thought that we were talking about the play. - We were.
I liked it. It made me think...
Uh-oh. About unions and how important they are.
Yeah. - I guess I don't know so much about Spain, though.
- So I gather. - Or politics.
What about dancing? How do you feel about the wonderful world of dancing?
- What, here? In front of everyone? - Why not?
You want to audition, don't you? You can't be shy.
I'm working.
Union break! Fifteen minutes!
John! Please.
- Are you asking me to dance? - Yes, ma'am.
- Then ask me. - Miss Stanton, would you do me the honor?
♪ Chocolate arms are open like a flower ♪
♪ How the hell do you spell Honolulu ♪
♪ Junior's gonna be a journalist ♪
♪ There's a woman there who wants you ♪
♪ La-la, Ia la la la ♪
- Whoa! - ILa-la, la la la la ♪
♪ Have you been to Honolulu ♪
Gee, fellas, am I supposed to be impressed? Ah, no, no, no.
Temptations of Satan, Marc.
Calling me Satan, Jack?
So, uh, what, you'll fill my belly with rich foods and fine wines,
and in my sated state, I'll give myself over to Orson Welles and his stage of glass?
- Is that it? - No, I'm not talking about me.
I'm talking about the follies of politics.
We can discuss it over a frankfurter, if you like.
Orson, discuss the play. That is why we're here.
- What is the prevailing wisdom here? - Sometime next month.
The League of Nations is applying pressure.
Yes. Suddenly, everybody cares about Ethiopia. - Ha!
Suddenly, Haile Selassie is an intelligent, rational leader.
Doing business with you has been so important to Mussolini.
An embargo, it would be so harmful to our cause.
Another example of rampant socialism run amok in this administration.
Well, perhaps we could ship product now...
and stockpile in anticipation of the worst.
Stockpile?
- Ah. - Jack.
Let's talk about prostitution and your connection with it. - Well, do you have evidence?
- Not of the loins, my boy. Of the soul. - Oh, boy!
- How was Cradle Will Rock? - Very good, funny.
- It's a nightmare. - Nightmare? Why?
Pro-union. How's the inquisition going?
I just don't understand. All these people testifying sound nuts, loony.
Well, take notes. Are the reviews for The Revolt of the Beavers in?
- No. - Let me know when they come.
But she is a representative of the party...
and they hobnob indiscriminately with them,
throwing parties with them right and left.
Did you report it to Trudy Goodrich?
Yes. She said she felt very sorry that I felt that way about it,
because she personally encouraged Negro attention on all occasions...
and went out with them or with any Negro who asked her to.
They're getting it all wrong. Their emphasis is on morals, not politics.
Don't they understand everybody lusts? They're not...
going to stop corruption in the program because people are fornicating in it.
This is about Communism, not immoral procreation.
- I agree with you, Hazel. - I must get called for this committee.
Oh, you would be fantastic.
- Mr. Crickshaw? - Yes?
Is it time for our tutorial?
I can't come right now. Uh-Tutorial was canceled.
Work together privately, and! Will review. May we use the stage?
- YES. - Yea!
How long do you suppose you can whore your talents...
before you're used up and unwanted?
Whore my talents, eh? - I'm sorry. Who is the sponsor of The Shadow?
- I think of them as my patrons. - His corporate Medicis.
They pay well, Marc, and with that money I pay for the theater.
I buy props that the federal government won't approve.
- Right. - Costumes, makeup, set pieces, puppets.
- I feed my friends, get my actors drunk. - You're such a god, Orson.
There's nothing wrong with money, Marc.
Everybody digs that beat. Everybody wants in. It's all the rage.
Even the boys in the Kremlin are starting to roll around in it.
You think Mr. Stalin is eating the same meal as a factory worker?
No. We call it the Ritz and you call it the Comintern Club! - I have no problem with money.
- I need it like everybody else does. - Yeah, yeah.
The question is what will you do for the money. Where do you draw the line?
Good question.
That's what my play is about. Cradle Will Rock is about prostitution.
Prostitution of education, of the press, of the courts, and the most important-
- The Rothschild '29. - Most important for you and me, Orson,
prostitution of the artist.
Where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line?
How long before you're doing soap commercials?
- Well, this is going extremely well. - Jack.
I do hope you don't mind me interrupting, but I was frightfully bored at my table.
- And I was thoroughly excluded. - Not at all. Please, please, join us.
- Orson, darling. - Ah.
We were just creating an insurmountable tension for our working relationship.
Hey, birthday boy!
Come over here. Hey! Hey!
- Hi. Oh. - You're late for your own son's birthday.
I had to learn a song. I have an audition tonight.
With Welles, huh? How's Orson Welles doing, huh?
"The Shadow knows.”"
Big shot, eh? You thinka you a big shot?
Yes, Congressman Dies. "The Living Newspaper" is the name of the project.
They write nothing else but propaganda plays.
They write the plays produced by the theater project?
- Yes, sir. - And they produce them too?
- They write and produce them. - They are on the federal payroll?
They are on the federal payroll, each one. I don't know about this.
- You don't know about this? Me? - You.
I don't want to be rude, but this is distracting. - Distracting?
- Can you stop him? Yes, you. - Stop me? What gives?
Please, Mr. Crickshaw.
- No, Tommy. - I would rather just do it with you.
Can we be alone?
- Oh! Me.just me. - Yes.
- Ah, yes.
- I can do the congressman. - Yes.
I beg your pardon, Miss Huffman. Please continue.
♪ It looks like summer weather ♪
♪ There's a fine warm sun ♪
Truth is, I don't think of anything when I'm singing.
I don't think about how hungry I am, or how cold.
I can even be singing about sad things and I feel all lifted up.
You love to sing.
Makes you warm, makes you forget.
You have beautiful eyes.
Oh.
Why were you crying before?
- When? - When we danced. Was I that bad a dancer?
No.
No, it's nothing.
You're holding on to secrets, Olive Stanton.
There's things that have happened to you.
Bad things.
I guess I'm just not... used to kindness recently.
You took me by surprise.
We've all been hit by it, Olive.
We've all been hungry.
Nobody here is gonna judge you.
This is your family now.
♪ I make a little bed from wood ♪
♪ So, my son ♪
♪ Sleep good ♪
$895'
♪ Sleep good ♪
- Really? - My official position is that I love it.
Yes, that it's- That I'm thrilled.
I think it's in my best interest to be publicly excited about the piece.
But I must admit, I have great trepidation about the mural.
First of all, I'm not sure that it's great art.
It will be great. It is not finished yet.
- It's not Picasso and it's not Matisse. - They said no to you.
They did not want to paint your lobby. Diego did.
You are not going to get anywhere attacking the quality of the art.
First of all, you are wrong. Second of all, you cannot win.
There will always be an art critic somewhere to call you a boor,
an unsympathetic, unfeeling capitalist blockhead incapable of appreciating true art.
- And I know... that is not you, Nelson. - Of course that's not me.
There's not a greater appreciator of modern art and freedom of expression than I.
- Yes, yes. - Will you talk to him?
See if you can get him to cheer it up just a little?
"Cheer it up"?
Ma rgherita.
There are microscopic cells of bubonic plague on the wall of my lobby.
Oh.
Orson, if you feel that way,
why do you want to do Cradle Will Rock?
Because it will piss off all the right people.
And when you piss people off in the theater, you're doing something right.
Because the theater should provoke. It shouldn't pander.
People should leave the theater wanting to fight, to argue, to jump, to fuck!
Goddamn it, if people leave Cradle and head for a bistro...
for a Spanish coffee and a cigarette...
to discuss the intellectual underpinnings of our story, then we're dead men!
- To Marion! - I want angry, lust-filled theatergoers!
- I think they're... - To the theater!
To the theater!
There was another play called Processional.
It dealt with a miner who had torn up the American flag and was put into jail.
Later, he killed this soldier who had seen him in a church or a,
a labor temple, having... sexual intercourse, if you please,
- with his mother. - Uh-oh.
That was the type of play that was put on.
I'm so nervous.
You're doing great. Did that really happen?
What? - In the play? He had intercourse with his mother?
Well, not on stage, but they talked about it.
Oh. Oh.
Do you think I'll be called to testify? I have so much to say.
If they don't call you, they're crazy.
Okay, it's your turn.
"Now, thanks to Revolt of the Beavers,
many children unschooled in the technique of revolution...
have an opportunity, at government expense,
to improve their tender minds.
Mother Goose is no longer a rhymed escapist.
She has been studying Marx. Jack and Jill lead the class revolution."
Saturday Evening Post.
The gist is that Federal Theater is teaching poor people to hate...
and possibly murder rich children.
- This is ridiculous. - Well, I'm stunned.
It's so absurd, it's funny. The Revolt of the Beavers is a fairy tale.
- What about the guns, Hallie? - They don't shoot the big, fat beaver.
They just kick him out of Beaver Land. So what does that say?
- Class war. - It's a fairytale!
Big Fat Beaver is a big, fat capitalist.
The big, fat beaver is a bad big, fat beaver.
He is a greedy beaver. He's a bad beaver.
Why are they singing this song? Who taught him this song?
I don't know.
- Who taught him this song? - What song?
His cousins. What's the problem?
They're singing a blackshirt song... in my house.
They're singing a song of Italy. They're proud to be singing this song.
- Proud? It's a Fascist song. - It's a beautiful song.
- Did you teach him this song? - What if I did?
Where do you live, huh?
Where do I live? What are you talking about?
This is America, you dumb shit.
You wanna wave your arms around, huh?
Go back to Italy, all right?
You insult Italy. You betray the land that gave your mother life.
You spit on Italy. You slap your mother on the face.
- You spit on your mother? - That's enough.
I'm 36 years old. You can't smack me around anymore.
Out. Get out.
You respect your family. - I respect my family. I just want him to leave.
He's your family!
- Then you can go too. - I can go too.
- Yeah. - Are you gonna kick me out, big boy?
You can't afford to kick us out. Who do you think pays for this apartment?
Then you want us to go? Then we'll go, all right?
It costs too much to hear my son sing Fascist songs.
Take the kids, we're going. Let's go. We're going.
- Let's go. We're gonna go. Joey, come on. - Not the babies.
You call yourself an artist?
The Italians were bringing art and culture to this world...
while your Anglo-Saxon wife's relatives...
were still picking the fleas off each other, living in caves.
I'll get the kids. Chance, Joey, let's go.
So a fella comes to work one day and there was a girl there who'd been a chambermaid in his hotel,
and had, uh, talked Communism to him on many occasions.
And he says, "What on Earth are you doing here?" She says, "Oh, I'm an actress."
He says, "Go on. You're not an actress."
I know you. You were a chambermaid in such-and-such hotel.“
She tosses her head and said, "Yes, but it was a theatrical hotel.""
You're gonna say that to the congressman?
The point I'm making is that she was a maid,
now she's an actress.
Because of her connections to the Communists in charge.
Mr. Crickshaw, your, your lurid stories about chambermaids-
This is the U.S. Congress,
not a, a beer hall.
I am sorry, Hazel, to disappoint you.
I- I assure you it is the furthest thing from my intentions.
Mr. Crickshaw, there is an evil... that must be rooted out.
We must choose our words carefully, or the press will mock our accusations.
I'm attracted to you.
Mr. Crickshaw, I...
view our relationship in purely professional terms.
We are chums, nothing more.
Diego!
- Diego! - Who is it?
- Margherita! - Who?
Margherita Sarfatti! How many Margheritas do you know, Diego?
Oh, I knew someone by that name once.
She was a Jew, and then she started going to bed with Fascists,
so I assumed by now she'd changed her name.
- Fascist. Just one. - What?
I had one Fascist. And Mussolini and I are over.
- But you still work for him. - Yes, and you...
You are working for that cute little Rockefeller, huh? - Touche.
Ah, times. They change, huh?
So many roads we travel.
I was wondering when you'd come.
It is so big.
I hope you are getting paid by the foot.
- I wish. - Oh, the cute little Rockefeller,
he is hoping... it could be more... cheerful.
- He sent you here to tell me this? - He's worried.
Whose head has fallen?
The head of Fascism. Of Hitler.
And your friend, the buffoon, Mussolini.
My friend, the buffoon, loves your art, even though he hates your politics.
- And you know what he said to me? - No, what did he say?
That if you are ever in trouble and need help, Italy will be there for you.
Oh, that's nice. But I think...
that the one that is going to need a place to hide is gonna be Mussolini, not me.
He and his pinche friend, Hitler.
Hitler is not a friend of Mussolini. Mussolini is a friend of many Jews.
How beautiful. Fascist love.
And you, you're not just in love.
You're the publicity queen for the new Roman Empire.
Writing your articles for Hearst, selling this murderer's philosophy,
Trying to put a human face on his Fascism.
You're at the mercy of a very powerful man.
As are we all, Diego.
As are we all.
For God's sake, it's the only thing that makes his singing bearable.
Oh, have an open mind, dean.
What the hell is he singing about, anyway?
I think it's something to do with the woes of a cobbler. - Cobbler!
- Shoemaker. - This is ridiculous!
I would appreciate it if you didn't cast your aspersions so loudly in front of my protege.
I didn't open my mouth at lunch today. I don't interfere with your affairs.
- You wouldn't understand them. - I certainly would understand them.
You're doing business with Benito Mussolini, who's a very dangerous man, in my estimation.
In your estimation. - I'm looking beyond your profit margin to a moral place, clear.
A terribly complex place we'll all have to deal with in the next few years.
We have Jewish friends, you know.
♪ Remember Troy Remember Lafayette:
♪ Remember the Alamo Remember our womanhood ♪
♪ Remember those innocent unborn babies ♪
♪ Don't let George do it You do it ♪
♪ Make the world safe for democracy, make the world safe for Iiberty ♪
I never could understand the reality of people...
breaking into song in the middle of a play, could you?
Are you sure you want this man to direct your play, Marc?
Not really, no.
♪ To end all war ♪
That was very nice. Who's next?
- John Adair. John Adair. - I haven't gotten permission-
just go out there. Don't say anything, don't apologize.
Just sing from your heart. Go on.
Uh, Moll's song.
- That's not John Adair, is it? - She's one of mine.
- One of mine. - Augusta, no stagehands-
No, wait. I like her. Let her sing.
♪ I'm checkin' home now ♪
♪ Call it a night Going up to ♪
This is the look of a prostitute.
Fresh, innocent, vulnerable.
I don't want some brassy, pulchritudinous whore, jack.
I want some gal who's driven to sell her body because she's hungry.
The market crash of 1929 made reluctant whores out of many young gals.
You'd find that out if you were a heterosexual Jack.
♪ The other five my efforts ain't required ♪
♪ For two days out of seven ♪
♪ Two dollar bills I'm given ♪
♪ So I'm just searching ♪
♪ Along the street ♪
- Why did we cast her? She's terrible. - Your glass sets are terrible.
No one knows where they are. Actors enter in fear of their lives.
Say another word, jack, I'm gonna murder you.
- What the hell is going on? - Hello, baby.
Someone explain to me how it's possible that the night court cue...
- is playing in the first scene. - Hello, big boy.
- Abe, where the hell are you? - Busy, baby?
- No problem, Orson, no problem! - Not so very.
♪ I'd like to give you a hundred bucks ♪
.1' But I've only got 30 cents ♪
♪ So would you wait till I catch my breath ♪
♪ On account of it's so immense ♪
- Cuts in personnel? - Well, 20%.
- That's 3,000 people out of work. - Effective immediately.
Because of the cuts and reorganization, any new play,
musical performance or art gallery is prohibited from opening before July 11th.
- This is an outrage. - Our train leaves in 20 minutes.
Paul, we'll be down in Washington for two clays. Can't this wait till I return?
This has gone out to all projects already. I play by the book.
Of course you do, but you could at least give me the chance to deal with the directors.
Good Lord, Cradle Will Rock opens tomorrow.
- Cradle opens tomorrow? - Does that mean the opening is canceled?
I'm afraid it does. - That is just downright disgraceful behavior.
Rose, get me Jack Houseman on the phone. I have to talk to Jack.
There isn't time. - I'll call Mr. Houseman and explain everything.
- Let's go. - You better get going. Don't be late.
Hallie, I'm sorry.
I can conclude by saying...
I thank you for your patience and your kindness to me.
We certainly hope that the results of this committee...
will be to clear out the Communism...
on the Federal Project and the pro-Communism,
and place the project in the hands...
of efficient, professional people.
Place it in the hands of those who are in sympathy...
with the American home and government.
Is that what you mean?
She loves you. - I'm afraid I did not understand the question, Mr. Chairman.
She loves you not.
She-She loves you not.
She loves you not.
Mr. Crickshaw, you're on.
She loves you... not.
Exactly what I mean, Mr. Chairman.
Well, uh, thank you for coming before this committee...
and giving us the facts that you have.
Well, thank you for having this committee...
and receiving the facts that I have.
Open shop is when a worker can be kicked around, demoted fired.
Lust like that, he's all alone. He's free.
Free to be wiped out. Closed shop, he's got 50,000 other workers with him,
ready to back him up, every one of them, to the last lunch pail.
The difference? This is an open shop.
This is a closed shop. This... is a union!
Order in the courtroom, order in the courtroom.
Next case. Reverend Salvation.
Where are they? - The Liberty Committee, the Liberty Committee!
- Wrong cue, Augusta! - Stand by.
Abe, what is the cue number?
- Abe! - What?
- Where do we go from- - Fifty-three!
"Reverend Salvation."
- Habitual prostitute since 1915.“ - Reverend Salvation-
- Wait! - Wait! - When they say go, clear.
- I've never done this before. - I'm astonished!
- Ready, Abe? - Ready!
Go! Cue! - That's you. - Me?
- Yes, you! - Well, what do I do?
Will you say the fucking line?
Reverend Salvation. Habitual prostitute since 1915.
- Don't start crying! - You're Larry Foreman.
- I've been looking all over town for you. - Wrong scene, Frank.
Wrong scene.
You haven't gotten a single scene right yet!
- Not one time! - Call it a night, everybody!
Call it a night! That's it! Get outta here!
- Charles Dana/in. - Charles Darwin?
- What's going on? - There you are, Mr. Crickshaw.
I pounded on your door. I didn't hear an answer.
- Am I going on next? - No, sir, this is your slot.
I sent Sid and Larry on to cover for you.
That's nothing. A woman can make a monkey out of a man in an hour.
That's my act.
I'm sorry, sir. We had to do something.
- Was it the lumberjack? Your brother? - You 're giving me a headache.
A headache? Only people with brains have headaches.
Why can? You paint another face over it?
Would you prefer Stalin? I don't.
I was kicked out of the Communist Party for disagreeing with him,
but if you want, I'll paint Stalin.
- You're not being very cooperative. - I am too!
I told you that I would paint Abraham Lincoln surrounded by freed slaves...
to counterbalance Lenin, and you rejected the idea.
- Why Lenin? - He's a revolutionary leader,
like your Washington and, uh, Jefferson.
Hey, there's an idea. Paint Jefferson.
- That's not a bad idea. What do you say? - That's not a bad idea at all.
- What do you say? - That's ridiculous!
I said Abraham Lincoln to balance Lenin, but Lenin stays.
This is not our revolution, Diego. This is the United States. It's not Russia.
Um-hmm, and I am Diego Rivera, not Frederick Remington.
You understand that it is entirely inappropriate...
to feature a Communist leader in the lobby of a Rockefeller building?
No. I believe nothing in art is inappropriate. I paint what I see.
We're going to have to insist that the face be removed.
Absolutely not!
Look, you son of a bitch, we're trying to be nice! This is betrayal!
Betrayal? - Yes! There was no indication in your sketches...
you would be featuring Communist leaders in the mural!
You were hired on the basis of said sketches!
And you've changed them. It's not fair!
Lenin stays!
How the hell do we open without a cue-to-cue?
Actors are called early. We'll cue-to-cue in the morning.
There's 175 cues to go!
Perhaps if you cut some cues... - Jack, there's a call from Hallie Flanagan's office!
Not now, Augusta, I'm in the middle of an argument.
You were singing flat. Why can't you admit it?
Stop yelling! - You were a quarter tone flat the entire last strain!
All you had to do was listen to the trumpet!
He didn't mean it. He's very tense.
It's always this way during cue-to-cues.
Union rules say we get a 12-hour break. I'll see you at noon.
- Come on, Olive. - Augusta!
You oughta be dressed by now.
He's yelling at us. We can't see what we're doing.
- The actors need flashlights. - Tell them to light a match!
My God! Stop!
Really fucking necessary to have eight fucking lighting cues for a single entrance?
It's an important entrance, and I'm the fucking director!
- Yes, of a fucking disaster! - Augusta!
I have to take my kids to a free clinic in the morning.
I'm staying here tonight. Do you hear me?
I hate you! And you can sleep alone tonight!
I'll finally get some rest instead of listening to you complain!
- I'm leaving. I'm leaving. - You can't leave.
- You're the producer. - That's right.
And as the producer, I can fire whomever I please, and I am fucking fired.
You'll come crawling back like a bitch on heat to his master!
I'm glad he didn't get to me. I can't remember my lines.
I'm stricken with a cerebral malaise.
No. God, cut it. God! Just forget it! Go home!
Forget it! God!
First he kills all my deals with Italy.
Now he's telling me how to run my business! I will not budge!
Well, let him call, the crippled son of a bitch. Let him call!
Jiminy Jesus! The bastards!
Get this damn thing off of me. Roosevelt's gonna call.
- Oh, it's good You look adorable. - I don't want to look adorable.
- I want to look angry. - We'll make a stunning pair.
- I need to let it out. - Can you get it ready by tomorrow?
Our, Madame. - The bastard wants me to join with the rest of Little Steel..
- In acknowledging the union. - How terrible.
- Yes, it is terrible. - It's worse than a strike.
- No, it's not worse than a strike. - I know so little.
Gray, dear, that awful woman came by and left two packages.
Woman? Packages?
- Oh, Carlo, can you grab the packages? - Nyet. Merci.
Mr. Mathers, sir, two parcels were left for you from one Margherita Sarfatti.
Thank you, Paul. Out!
- What is in them? - Oh-ho, so nosy.
- Oh, pray tell. - Mmm, perhaps... it's a surprise.
Suppose it were a gift.
- What? From Sarfatti? - Purchased through her.
- For you. - Oh, how interesting.
Yes. So...
mind your business.
- Did you see the papers today? - No.
It was like Cradle Will Rock was on the front page.
- They're having a strike. - Who?
- A steel strike. Mathers Steel. - Really?
I'm telling you, the same themes, the same words almost.
- It's a dangerous play you're in. - It's a great role.
- I'm lucky, huh? - Hmm.
Just don't want to blow it.
It's too important.
Daddy, are we going to lose our room?
No, Chance. Why do you say that?
Joey told me.
Michael O'Brien's family lost their apartment.
He doesn't go to school anymore.
Daddy's got a job, so, uh, we're gonna be fine.
Michael O'Brien's father had a job, and then he lost it and they were poor.
Well, we're poor, but we're gonna be fine.
We should say some prayers just to be safe, though. All right?
- John? - Yeah.
- Am I horrible? - Huh?
In the play. Am I horrible?
No, you're not horrible.
- Am I not good? - No, you're good.
But I'm not great.
No, you're great.
At times.
It's hard to be great. Some actors can be great all the time.
It's your first role. You try hard.
Listen.
You're better off than you were.
Your play is horrible, indulgent, masturbatory nonsense.
You don't really believe that, do you?
You hear what you want to hear.
If you'd slept a little more, you might have had a shot.
- Garbage. - It's not the end of the world.
- I saw a rat today. - Where?
In here.
- You know who stopped by? - No.
Your mama.
She was pretty shocked about how we were living. - She would be.
- I think she wants to help. - No.
Aldo, we could really use the money.
I don't want my family's money.
So the kids can go hungry just because of your pride, your politics.
- You want chubby little Fascists? - No! How can you say that?
But I don't want to wait in soup lines with them. I don't want.
What would that teach them if we take my parents' money?
That it's all right to believe in something or have pride,
but if you're just a little bit uncomfortable or hungry, sell it.
Aldo, there are rats in here.
Paul Edwards couldn't reach lack Houseman last night.
- He's trying today. - Keep on top of that.
We have to reassure Jack that we will find a way to do his show.
- They're chomping at the bit for you. - Twenty percent cuts, Harry.
- I had no warning. - It's temporary, a stopgap.
A cash-flow problem. We'll get the 20% back, Hallie.
- Can I hold you to that? - Yes.
- Who testified last night? - Hazel Huffman. A real nutcase.
She got good headlines, though most of the press is so bored of this committee...
they just bite the bait and print the highlights.
They'll all be coming back for you, thought, Hallie. - I'm honored.
Not to put any pressure on you, but a good showing today would help.
By order of the federal government, no one is allowed in the theater.
No props, costumes, set pieces can be removed.
- Why? - I don't know, sir.
- For how long? - I don't know, sir.
We have an office in the back. I assume we can use that.
I'll have to check with my commander.
Go and check with Stalin, you cossack stooge.
- Jack! Jack! - I need to use the telephone.
What's happening? - We've been shut out. The feds have closed us down.
How exciting. - Darling, I need your help. What are you doing right now?
I've an opening at the Metropolitan, and Mr. Mathers has labor troubles.
Tonight there's a masquerade ball at the Vanderhuesens.
I'm a very busy bunny. What do you need?
I need you to join us in a clandestine operation. Are you game?
Clandestin! How is it done? Go, James.
- Que pasa? - Esta la guerra.
Si. Adios-.
Mrs. Flanagan, you are the first woman in America...
to receive the Guggenheim Foundation scholarship.
- Is that correct? - Yes, that is correct.
And you went to study abroad for what, 12,14 months to study the theater?
- I did. - What date was that?
That was in 1926 and 1927.
You spent most of your time in what country?
In Russia.
How much time did you spend in Russia, Mrs. Flanagan?
I spent two months and a half in Russia out of fourteen months.
- But let me say, gentlemen- - Did you spend more time there...
studying the theater than you did in any other country?
I did, because there are many more theaters in Russia than there are in any other country.
Did you or did you not make the statement...
that the theater in Russia is more vital and important?
Yes, I did find that. What is it about the Russian theater...
that makes it more vital and important than the theaters of the Continent...
and the theaters of the United States?
I would be glad to answer that, but before I do,
I would like to say that I have I maintained consistently...
that Federal Theater is American theater.
American theater founded on American principles,
which has nothing to do with the Russian theater.
I know, but you're not answering the question, Mrs. Flanagan.
Did you make later trips to Russia to study the theater?
I went to Russia in 1931.
- Did you attend the Olympiad there? - I did.
Was this at the time of the Fifth Red International...
of Labor Unions that you attended?
I wouldn't know about that. I was going to see theater. That was my one concern.
Are you a member of any Russian organization at the present time?
I am not. - Have you been a member of any Russian organization?
I have not.
" Open up! ' Go away!
I'm never speaking to you again!
- You leave me alone! - Open the window!
- Open it, open it! - I'm sorry, Mr. Houseman.
Um-Oh.
For God's sake, put some clothes on, woman! Don't you realize we're under siege?
- Under siege? - What are you doing here, anyway?
- We had a fight. I stayed the night. - Halt! Who goes there?
I have Hallie's office on the line.
Hallie Flanagan, please. Where in Washington?
This is Jack Houseman. My theater's been seized by cossacks.
I need to speak with her immediately. This is an emergency!
- Oh, she's in Washington testifying. - We're radicals, jack.
Locked out for content. All very exciting.
We need a plan, we need a plan. Gotta think, gotta think.
- We need the plan, plan, plan. - We'll find a different theater.
Can't find a different- Find a different theater!
Augusta, find me George Zorn. He's a booker. He'll know all the dark theaters.
- We'll smuggle the costumes out. - Yes, and the set.
I hate the set! It's a nightmare! A brilliant idea poorly executed.
I've always said the play would work better on a bare stage.
- Hallie said that. - No, I said it first.
- No, you didn't. No, you didn't. - Yes, I did. Yes, I did.
Yes, I bloody well did! - Fine, jack, you win. You've got the biggest creative dick.
- Thank you. - I have George Zorn on the line.
George! Yes, we have a theatrical emergency here.
Can you come over to Maxine Elliot's theater? Now?
They criticized The Revolt of the Beavers“
because they thought that it was poisoning the minds of youth.
For that reason, I would like to read into the record... - [Woman Whispers I she's here.
Some of the reactions of children who have seen this play.
Hello. - "The play teaches us never to be selfish.
That it is better to be good than bad.
"That if you are unkind any time in your life, you will always regret it."
- I could read all of this... - Thank you.
Cuts. Twenty percent.
3,000 people out of work.
I sure hope they're all Reds that lose their jobs.
Next.
Don't look at me.
- What? - Don't look. Please.
- Are you an actor? - Yes.
- Cradle Will Rock? - Yes.
Now listen carefully. Use the back entrance through the window of the women's dressing room.
Good luck. Godspeed.
Roosevelt wants me to give in. Follow the rest of Little Steel.
- He has no spine. - He says if we don't capitulate,
- we'll have a revolution on our hands. - Revolution.
So what do you think, W.H.? You think Lewis has that kind of power?
I think people are poor and angry and will follow anybody that promises them gold.
They've got you cornered, Gray. If you give in, you'll lose money...
and you open the floodgates to socialists and radicals.
If you resist, you'll wind up resisting with guns.
And that won't look good.
Killing strikers doesn't play to the public.
You've got to find a way...
to give them a dollar and take two, huh?
Not an easy task.
Magnificent.
Now listen. I'm buying art. That's all.
If anything comes back to me,
- I'll bury you and your company. - Not to worry.
- Diego Rivera? - Yes.
You must vacate the premises. Your work is now completed.
Rockefeller Center no longer requires your services.
Fuck off! Chacho! Chacho!
Get me the Tribune. What's the critic's name there?
Oh, never mind! Just get me the national desk.
No can do on the Jolson Theater. The owner's in the Berkshires. Unreachable.
- What about the Gossamer Arts? - Closed by the Health Department.
The Rialto? - Huh! The owner's a Liberty Leaguer, very conservative.
- I can try. - Do try, George. I love irony.
This is Orson Welles, and I believe you may be interested to know...
that for the first time in American history,
the government has sent armed guards to prevent the performance of a play!
Frida!
Movilizar the Art Student's League!
News flash, news flash! Twenty percent cuts in personnel!
It's curtains for all of us. I hear a rumor they're gonna shut this whole project down.
- What do you think, Mr. Turncoat? - We worked up a little routine.
Can you look at it, give us your advice?
You're Reds. I don't talk to Reds.
We're not red, darling. Pink. Like a flower.
We're homosexuals, not Communists.
- You thought we were Communists? - Oh, that's rich.
- Come on. Watch our act. - Leave me alone.
Mr. Rockefeller wanted to convey his feelings of appreciation for your work...
and instructed me to give you this check as payment in full.
This is it? Now what? You paint over Lenin's face?
You gonna put Hearst's face on it? Or Hitler? Paint over the war, the soldiers?
Turn them into jolly, drunken English fox hunters?
A little bucolic pastoral scene...
of men on horses chasing after a little fox?
Listen, folks, can I have your attention, please?
Folks!
Due to cutbacks, we will not be hiring at the present time.
To save you time and aggravation,
We suggest you drop off your applications and go home...
or to the park.
We're very sorry.
Mrs. Flanagan, how man y people do you figure...
you had as audience in the United States for these plays?
The recorded figure; Congressman Dies, was something like...
- 25 million people. - In other word's, you have reached...
approximately 25% of our population with your plays.
Something like that. Yes.
New... you wrote for Theater Arts Monthly,
November 1931, did you not?
- Yes, I did. - I quote this from that same article.
"Start dramatic groups in unions, in fraternal organizations,"
in social clubs, in company unions, in Y.M.C.A.'s.
Dot the land from coast to coast. Don't expect profit in money.
These theaters exist to awaken the workers."
May I interrupt? Please notice that that is a quotation.
A quotation, yes. But these are your words I'm quoting.
"The workers' theaters intend to remake a social structure without the help of money."
And this ambition alone invests their undertaking...
with a certain Marlowesque madness.“
You are quoting from this Marlowe. Is he a Communist?
I'm very sorry. I was quoting from Christopher Marlowe.
Tell us who this Marlowe is so we can get the proper reference
because that is all we want to do.
Put in the record that he was the greatest dramatist in the period of Shakespeare,
immediately preceding Shakes pea re.
Of course, we had what some people call Communists back in the clays of Greek theater.
- If you say so. - And I believe Mr. Euripides...
was guilty of teaching class-consciousness also, wasn't he?
I believe it was alleged against all the Greek dramatists.
So we cannot say when it began.
Wasn't it alleged also of Ibsen and against practically every great playwright?
I think so.
- Countess, we need a piano. - Piano?
In case the theater we find doesn't have one. - Good thinking.
Here's ten dollars. That should cover the rental.
Marc, tell the countess where she might find a piano.
- Um... - Mr. Welles, will you-
We most assuredly will be performing The Cradle Will Rock tonight!
What theater? - We are currently negotiating with three theaters.
We'll let you know within the hour.
Why can't we go in?
This is private property! It's not open to the public!
- We want to see the painting. - The lobby is closed.
- Let us in! - Down with Rockefeller!
The paint'll come through.
- Must hit. - Chip.
- Chip? - Nelson?
Nelson?
Hi. Your masquerade party starts in an hour.
- You wanted me to remind you. - Claire! Not now.
Thank you.
Chip?
Sol, do we have a pneumatic drill?
- You're Larry Foreman. - Ex-foreman.
I've been looking all over town for you.
How's the union returns, Mr. Mister.
Oh, damn. What is it?
- "They haven't come to a decision yet." - We can do this!
Has anyone asked the W.P.A. if this is okay?
Hallie is in Washington testifying. Will, bring the guitar out front.
- I'm not gonna do it. - Jack,
we've got trouble with the musicians and the actors unions.
They won't sanction a performance elsewhere. - What?
The actors union and the musicians union are forbidding their members to perform.
Mathers Steel will not be intimidated. James!
Just a second. Where the hell is my wife?
I last seen her at Maxine Elliot's theater downtown, sir.
- You left her there? - She dismissed me, sir.
- Bring the car around. - Yes, sir.
Are we clear? That's right. Whatever it takes.
- Madame Sarfatti to see you, sir. - Show her in.
- Carlo, a little privacy, please. - Hmm?
Why don't you go clean the toilets or something? - I clean nothing.
- Gray, such a pleasure to see you. - Buona sera.
- I mean, it is a great pleasure to- - We have met before.
- I don't think so. - Carlo, out!
- Your wig, sir. - Out! Everybody, out! Out!
Oh, Gray, Gray. Did you receive the package?
Yes, I did.
- You did not open it? - Uh, no, I haven't.
Well.
And Mr. Hearst, did he receive his package?
- Yes, yes, he did. - Did it please him?
Oh, yes, very much. So when do you sail?
Tonight.
Your payment, madam.
Thank you, thank you. And Mussolini thanks you.
We-I-we are going to miss you.
You did not tell me what you feel.
- About you? - About the painting. You open it,
but you say nothing.
Oh, uh-I... I love it.
It's, uh-it's a masterpiece.
- Yes. Yes. - Is it da Vinci?
And where will you hang her?
Uh, here in the study. Uh, over the fireplace.
- Ah. - Hmm?
Oh, what a shame to let the classics slip away.
He won't even reconsider, right?
- What's going on? - Actor's Equity says no.
- We can't do the show. - We can't do the show.
- Equity says. - Did you ever love me?
How are we gonna do the show without musicians?
- The show's off. - We can't do the show.
- We're not dead yet. - Our unions won't let us do the show.
What reason did they give? - I say stop, you say go. You're an evil man, jack.
- Excuse me, jack. - It means we can't do the show.
It means it's over. It's over, everybody.
Time to go home. Let's go, Olive. This show's a disaster.
- Excuse me. - Not now, George.
- What if we do it anyway? - And be kicked out of the union?
Not be able to work? I can't risk that.
- We thought so too. It's... - Excuse me!
- What? - I found a theater.
The Venice, 59th and 7th. The owner wants a hundred bucks.
- Tell him no. - What?
- It's over, George! - Jack! Jack!
I found a piano! Where am I going?
We're not doing the show. We've been censured.
Well.
I found a piano. There's a crowd out there. Why not do it in the street?
We have a theater. It's the actors. They've been forbidden.
Well. Why not let Marc do it?
By himself, all the characters, yeah.
- He did it for us. - I know, but it's not gonna be any good.
- What's not gonna be any good? - Besides, he's in the union.
Marc,
are you in the... musicians union?
No. Why?
You have established the precedent of exhibiting a play...
that champions the cause of public ownership of utilities.
You said you thought that was proper and you had a right to do that.
I think so. - And if the same play proved that the public ownership...
of railroads was a good thing, you would do it too, would you not?
Absolutely. And the test is, is it a good play-
And if someone came with a play showing that the public ownership...
of all the lands in the United States,
and it was a good play, you would do that too, would you not?
That is a very clever move on your part to maneuver me into a certain position.
- I do not pretend to any cleverness. - No, I would not.
We would stop at that because that would be recommending...
the overthrow of the United States government, and I do not want that,
gentlemen, whatever some of the previous witnesses have intimated.
In other words, you would favor doing it by degrees, but not all at once.
Isn't that right?
It is a degree that the Congress has passed upon, isn't it?
- Not yet. - You did at one time.
- Not that I know of. - During the war?
I want you all to know that I resent this silent treatment,
this subtle torture that you are all subjecting me to.
It is not easy being the one that stands up and says the truth.
You all know that there are Communists amongst you.
You all know that you date Negroes.
You all know that you are antifascist.
I say the pox on you and your house. I will not tolerate this abuse.
What a hero you are.
Mr. Noble-Rat-On-His-Friends- Now-Everybody-Gets-Fired Crickshaw.
What a hypocrite. You believed in something once, Tommy.
Shut up.
Where have you come Tommy Crickshaw?
Where's the young comrade I once knew?
Let's do the old act.
One more time, for old times' sake?
Come on, Tommy.
The federal government and the actors and musicians union...
Sophie!! - Have collectively forbidden us from performing this play.
- Daddy, what's happening? - They've shut down the show.
- The government? - No, the union.
At this' time, the composer of Cradle Will Rock, not being a member of the union,
will be performing the play by himself...
on the stage of the Venice Theater, 21 blocks north...
on 59th and 7th.
You're all invited to join us. Thank you.
- Where is it? - 59th and 7th.
- You gonna go? - I don't think so.
Every major newspaper critic in New York is here, Marc. You can't let them down.
You better be good. This is huge. A thousand people.
The Rome Theater, 57th and 9th.
We should support Marc. He'll be terrified playing on his own.
Our union has forbidden us from performing in this show.
If we even go to that theater, we could lose our jobs. I'm leaving.
You can either come with me or find somewhere else to sleep.
- You're kicking me out? - Come now or find somewhere else to sleep.
Understand?
Mrs. Flanagan, we have had a long day, and your testimony has been most illuminating.
We will hear from Mr. Alsberg tomorrow.
We will adjourn for the evening.
Just a minute, gentlemen! Do I understand this concludes my testimony?
[ Dies 1 We will see about it tomorrow.
I would like to make a final statement, if I may, Congressman Dies.
Mrs. Flanagan, it is very late. We shall see about it tomorrow.
Chairman Dies, this committee has heard testimony...
for five and a half months from unqualified witnesses.
As head of the Federal Theater, I must insist on more time to refute this testimony.
It is only fair and decent, sir.
Whoa, let's not talk about decency, Mrs. Flanagan.
The Federal Theater is hardly a judge of that. Now excuse me, ma'am.
Mrs. Flanagan, any comment on the proceedings?
They're chasing ghosts. I hope to further repudiate their charges tomorrow.
What is going on, Harry? - You made Starnes look like a fool and he's furious.
I mean, Marlowe a Communist?
- They have to allow me to continue. - They're not asking you back.
- I have had six hours! It's not fair! - You're embarrassing them.
Hazel Huffman had three clays. She's a clerk. - You're too smart for them.
I'm head of the project. I must be allowed to continue.
You have to talk to Roosevelt. - The committee is not interested in reason and intelligence.
This is their show and they are writing you out of it. - Did you hear me?
- Roosevelt can make it happen.
One press release and I'll be back in the morning. - This is not going to happen.
What are you saying? - This is not going to happen. Roosevelt is saving his fights.
This is politics, Hallie. Give a little, get a little.
Exquisite, exquisite.
Congratulations. It is a perfect fit.
You know, the next time we see each other, we'll probably be at war.
I hope not. I hope it can be avoided.
Probably not.
Down with Rockefeller!
Your friend Rockefeller shut me out!
Lenin in a capitalist's lobby. What were you expecting?
- I was dragged out like a common criminal. - You were hired to do a job.
Now your boss does not like what you did. Paint your revolution at you own expense.
Go paint a mural for nothing at the Young Communists League.
Because I take Rockefeller's money, now I am his slave?
- Yes! - Oh! When did you stop supporting artists?
I support your art, but that does not mean that I must support your revolution.
- It's the same thing! - No, it is not.
What a lie you live. A Jewish Fascist.
And you, a wealthy Communist.
Should I do a character description? No, I probably...
I shouldn't do a character description, right? - Don't worry...
- Shut up, Jack. - You shut up!
- Please, please, please. - You'll be fine, Marc.
Um, there are seven duets in the piece. What am I gonna do about those?
- Dad, why did they have guns? - Seems strange, doesn't it.
- You're not doing the play? - Because the government says we can't.
- But you want to do it? - Yes.
- Is it against the law? - No, but they're my boss,
and they pay me and they say we can't do the show.
But you still want to do it, so why don't you do it already?
'Cause I can't. It's been forbidden. And I could lose my job.
It 'll ruin my career.
The only person who can ruin your career is you.
- Oh, shut up. You snake in the grass. - You shut up.
I never want to work with you again. Ever. I'm never gonna work with you.
- I never want to work with you again. - I never want to work with you.
Do be careful. Don't hurt yourself.
Oh, look at those lights. They're wonderful. -
Constance, what on Earth are you doing?
I'm getting the piano off the truck!
Oh, my heavens! Darling! I was supposed to meet you at home an hour ago.
I've failed you miserably. I do hope you'll forgive me.
You look splendid, Gray, darling. Have you got any money?
I'd like to give these generous men a gratuity. - Get in the car.
- Why, dear? - We're going home.
- Darling, we'll miss the performance. - That certainly is my intention.
Don't make me choose between Marie Antoinette and this evening.
I'll never forgive you if you make me miss this performance tonight.
Oh. Good Lord. It's a revolution.
- It's the audience! - Get in the car.
Carlo, would you please give me and my husband some privacy?
- Nyet. Merci. - James, go!
James, stay. When did you become such a stick in the mud?
Oh, stop it! We're going home!
My wife has gone completely mad. Get in the car!
- Now! - Perhaps you've mistaken me for a spaniel.
If you don't get in the car, I will cut off your allowance.
You'll do nothing of the kind.
And if you do, then I'll have to live as a gypsy does.
Constance!
Orson, Jack, we've got the piano! Come, come!
You know times are hard when I look at you and see firewood.
- Hey, what are you saying? - Why, my oaken friend,
- Mr. Roosevelt has laid us off. - Cutbacks?
Politics. - I told you you shouldn't have ratted on my friends.
- Friends? - Uh-oh.
Did you say friends? Those Reds are your friends?
- Sorry, comrade. - Comrade?
We are all comrades, and we will not rest until all of the country is Red.
I've known this dummy like the back of my hand, I swear.
In my own hand, a revolutionary?
Ladies and gentlemen, this man exploits my labor for his own profits.
This capitalist pays me zero, works me whenever he likes.
I sleep in a coffin-like apartment!
- You're a dummy! - Dummies!
This is what he calls us, brothers and sisters. - Not you folks.
"If it is dummies we are, then I say, "Dummies, rise up!
Rise up to the proletarian call of dummies everywhere!
Storm the barricades! Riot in the streets!“
- Give him the hook! - ♪ Arise, ye prisoners ♪
♪ Of starvation ♪
♪ Arise, ye wretched of the Earth ♪
- ♪ Forjustice thunders condemnation ♪ - Get off the stage!
♪ A better world in birth ♪
♪ Then, comrades, come rally ♪
♪ And the last fight let us face ♪
♪ The Internationale ♪
♪ Unites the human race;
And Aristophanes was definitely a Communist.
So are we through? Is this it?
- Should I be looking for a job? - We've got another year, if we fight.
You know, I can understand the puritans, I can understand the politics,
but I guess I don't understand the passion of it.
- The intense anger. - It's not just anger, it's fear.
Fear? - Mr. O'Hara, have you ever heard of Michael Grunwald?
- What, was he a Communist? - No. Mr. De Rohan?
Michael Grunwald, an historian, Elizabethan England. Not a Communist as far as I can tell.
Mr. O'Hara, have you read any of his books?
Uh, no, Congressman Flanagan. I skipped that course.
But you know your history of Elizabethan England.
- Yes. From Shakespeare, Madam Chairman. - A playwright. I see.
- Mr. O'Hara, who was Richard III? - A humpback and a killer.
Mr. De Rohan, what is Michael Grunwald's opinion of Richard III?
Michael Grunwald would say that Richard Illl was a great ruler and much maligned.
And yet this Shakespeare has written a play which is still performed,
while Mr. Grunwald's books gather dust.
Would you consider that unfair, Mr. De Rohan?
Why, yes. I would say that this Mr. Shakespeare should be investigated.
And if all else fails, we can remove his words.
Burn them.
We're not painting pretty pictures with our plays.
It must scare the hell out of them.
Well, the plays are written. They're here forever.
Oh, I hope they are.
Federal Theater is going to end.
But theater is going to be better off.
We've launched a ship,
a grand and glorious ship.
How come they did that, Dad?
You should ask your uncle. That's his flag.
Olive!
- Hi. - I thought you went home.
Um, I don't have a home now.
He kicked you out?
Can I sleep on your floor tonight?
Sure.
I didn't want to miss this.
What in God's name were you expecting from a Communist?
I wouldn't have had this problem with Picasso or Matisse.
We control the future of art because we pay for the future of art.
Appoint people to your museum boards that detest the Rivera's of this world.
Celebrate the Matisses. Create the next wave of art.
You have the purse strings. It's quite obvious you have the power.
- Cultural power. - Yes.
- To pay for the Matisse. - Celebrate colors.
- Celebrate form. - Portraits.
- Countrysides. - Men on horses.
- Sunsets. Nudes. - Oh, yes.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Welcome to the first runaway production of the Federal Theater.
I'm sure that you are aware by now of the circumstances...
that have led us to this dusty theater on this beautiful summer night.
Something in this play frightens people in Washington.
There must be some sinister force at work in this play.
So without further ado,
allow me to introduce to you the monster behind The Cradle Will Rock,
Mr. Marc Blitzstein.
Good evening.
Fade to black and we're in Steeltown, U.S.A.
A prostitute walks down the street and stops under a streetlamp.
This is Moll.
- Play. - She sings:
♪ I'm checkin' home now ♪
♪ Call it a night ♪
♪ Gem' up to my room ♪
"I Turn on the light I"
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ Turn off that light ♪
♪ I ain't in Steeltown long ♪
♪ I work two days a week ♪
♪ The other five my efforts ain't required ♪
♪ For two days out of seven ♪
♪ Two dollar bills I'm given ♪
♪ So I'm just searchin' ♪
♪ Along the street ♪
♪ For on those five days ♪
♪ It's nice to eat ♪
♪ News ♪
♪ Who said let's eat ♪
Enter a well-dressed gentleman.
Enter a well-dressed gentleman who's on the make.
Uh, okay. Enter me.
♪ I'd like to give you a hundred bucks ♪
♪ But I only got 3O cents ♪
Nelson will fund the new wave of art.
A traveling exhibit throughout Europe, highlighting American artists.
Nonpolitical. - Yes, abstract. Colors and form, not politics.
My papers will hail it as the next new thing.
We'll canonize the artists, make them rich.
And soon enough, all artists will be doing the next new thing.
You think? There's something about artists...
- that always gets socially concerned. - That's true.
They won't get paid for it. - They won't be seen. They'll have no influence.
Rather than starve, they'll adapt. It's survival.
And artists are whores, like the rest of us.
IMaybe you wonder what it is ♪
♪ Makes people good or bad ♪
♪ Why some guy ♪
♪ An ace without a doubt ♪
♪ Turns out to be a bastard ♪
♪ And the other way about ♪
♪ I'll tell you what I feel ♪
♪ It's just the nickel under the heel J"
♪ Go stand on someone's neck ♪
♪ While you're takin ♪
♪ Cut into somebodys throat as you put ♪
♪ For every dream and scheme's ♪
♪ Depending on whether:
♪ All through the storm ♪
♪ You've kept it warm ♪
♪ That nickel under your foot ♪
Scene two. We're now in a holding cell.
Moll sits there, depressed,
as Larry Foreman, a union leader, is thrown in there with her.
He says-
Ohhhhh!
Daddy!
Boy!
- I just been grilled! - Ooh, you been hit good.
You're new here. What's the matter? They catch you on the streets?
Uh-huh. What'd they get you for?
Who me? Makin' a speech and passin' out leaflets.
The formal charge is incitin' a riot. Ain't you ever seen my act?
Well, I'm creepin' along in the dark.
My eyes is crafty.
My pockets is bulgin'. I'm loaded!
Armed to the teeth... with leaflets!
I come up to you very slow, very sneaky.
And with one fell gesture, I tuck a leaflet in your hand.
One.
Two. Three. Oh! There's a riot!
You're the riot! I incited you! I'm terrific, I am.
Scene three. A night court.
Enter the Liberty Committee.
Say! What's the whole Liberty Committee doin' in a night court?
And on the other side of the bars?
Think of what m y people would think if the y could see me.
You know, Mr. Mister.
He'll come and bail us out!
Phone for Mr. Mister to come and bail us out.
We're the most respectable families in the city.
- We're Steeltown's Liberty Committee. - We 're against the union.
- We 're against the drive. - Why, I drew up the manifesto.
♪ Steeltown is clean ♪
♪ Steeltown's a real town ♪
♪ We don't want a union ♪
♪ In Steeltown ♪
I am the Reverend Salvation.
We have formed the Liberty Committee to combat against socialism,
Communism, radicalism and especially unionism.
- I'm the editor of the Steeltown News. - I'm his personal doctor.
And I'm Mr. Mister's personal wife. Mr. Mister's Mrs. Missus.
I'm his daughter, Sister Mister.
I'm his son, junior Mister.
- Who is this Mr. Mister? - Better ask who he's not.
He owns steel and everything else.
♪ So Mr. Mister please take pity ♪
♪ Come and save your pet committee ♪
♪ From disaster ♪
First case. Name?
- Reverend Salvation. - Habitual prostitute since 1915.
♪ So sayeth it in the Bible ♪
♪ So must it be ♪
♪ Thou shalt not kill ♪
♪ Peace on earth To ward men goodwill ♪
♪ Only goodwill ♪
♪ As your shepherd I implore ♪
♪ Turn from thoughts of wicked war ♪
♪ War we do abhor ♪
♪ Let's do something before we've got too old ♪
♪ I'm glad I'm not too old to tie a can to a doggie's tail ♪
♪ Let's raise chickens, raise the dickens, go to church and be on time for excitement ♪
♪ And indictment would be swell if we invent a crime ♪
♪ Let's do something to kill the monotony ♪
♪ Let's go in for botany if they've got any And if not any ♪
♪ So we must set the tone right, please don't be quite so downright ♪
♪ Simply answer both yes and no ♪
♪ It's true You've preached so much for peace ♪
♪ But HOW it seems that peace ♪
♪ May be a little expensive ♪
♪ Please don? Think me offensive ♪
♪ just restrain your intensive ardor ♪
♪ Oh, the press, the press The freedom of the press ♪
♪ You'll never take away the freedom of the press ♪
- ♪ That Foreman series now ♪ - ♪ Yes, Mr. Mister, yes ♪
♪ With a hey-diddle-dee and a ho-nonny ♪
INol-No?
Yes, Mr. Mister, yes!
♪ For whichever side will pay the best ♪
♪ All you clergymen must now prepare ♪
♪ A special prayer and do your share ♪
♪ Oh, yes, your share ♪
Thou shalt.
♪ War, war Kill all the dirty Huns and those Austro-Hungarians ♪
♪ War, war We're entering the war ♪
♪ Make the world safe for democracy ♪
♪ Make the world safe for liberty ♪
♪ Make the world safe for steel and the Mister family ♪
♪ Of course it's peace we're for ♪
♪ This is war to end ♪
♪ All war ♪
♪ Amen ♪
♪ I can see the market rising like a beautiful bird J"
Collection!
♪ Mr. Misterl ♪
Where have you been, sir?
- You're Larry Foreman! - You're Larry Foreman!
- Ex-foreman. - I've been-
I've been-
Looking-
I've been looking all over town for you.
Yeah? Well, how's the union returns?
Well, they haven't-Haven't come back with a decision yet.
Mr. Foreman, I know a lot about you.
- Yeah. - You were once in my employ.
Now look, we both want the same thing.
A fair, square deal for everybody.
Why don't you persuade your union...
to join with the Liberty Committee in one great big united organization?
Thank you.
Let me understand you.
You'd like my services in swinging your way all the people I have signed up.
All the people who agree with the union.
You want me to change their minds.
- Is that it? - ♪ That's it That's it ♪
- ♪ Now do it ♪ - That's rather strongly put.
Oughta be worth quite a sum to you, eh?
I thought so. Every man has his price.
♪ And every day is a wonderland tour ♪
♪ Oh, you can dream and scheme and happily put ♪
♪ Then take, take and put ♪
♪ But first be sure ♪
♪ The nickel's under your foot ♪
♪ And if you're sweet then you?! grow rotten ♪
Wait! I'm kinda funny that way. I'd like to know now how much it might be worth.
Who do you think you are? Go on! Go on!
That's Mr. Mister making you an offer! Take it! Take it!
Making you an offer! Mr. Mister!
You don't say.
Worth that much to you, eh?
Well, you take all that money...
and you go buy yourself a big piece of toast!
- Idiot! - Marvelous!
Now then, get outta here!
Hooray!
And take this little girl with ya!
Out there, she doesn't cost ya nothin'!
In jail, you're liable to have to feed her!
Why, you goddamned skunk. I'll break you. I'll drive you outta town.
- Lynch him! - Get rid of him!
Yes, lynch! Kill!
Listen once and for all, ya scared bunch of ninnies!
Outside in the square, they're startin' something...
that's gonna tear the cat gut outta your stinkin' rackets.
That's steel marchin' out in front.
The people in this town are findin' out what it's all about.
They're growin' up.
And when everybody gets together like steel's getting together tonight,
where are ya then?
Listen, you black legions!
You Ku Kluxers!
You vigilantes hidin' up there in the cradle of the Liberty Committee!
When the storm breaks,
the cradle will fall!
Listen! The boilermakers are with us!
That's the boilermakers' kids.
The roughers, the rollers!
Steel! Your steel! They done it!
- Hey, they're marchin' down here. - Ain't got no permit to march.
- Arrest them! - Arrest 'em? There's thousands or' em.
They're standin' in front of the courthouse. They're right here.
- My God. What do they want with me? - Don't worry.
That's not for you. That's just a union marching.
♪ And then they put out their hands ♪
♪ And feel stormy weather ♪
♪ A birdie ups and cries ♪
♪ Boys, this looks bad ♪
♪ You haven't ssed your eyes ♪
♪ You'll wish you had ♪
♪ That's thunder That's lightning ♪
♪ And it's gonna surround you ♪
♪ No wonder those storm birds ♪
♪ Seem to circle around you ♪
♪ Well, you can? Climb down ♪
♪ And you can? Sit still ♪
♪ That's a storm that's gonna last until J"
♪ The final wind blows And when the wind blows ♪
♪ The cradle will rock ♪
Yes!
♪ That's thunder That's lightning ♪
♪ And it's gonna surround you ♪
♪ No wonder those storm birds ♪
♪ Seem to circle around you ♪
♪ Well, you can't climb down and you can't say no ♪
♪ You can't stop the weather Not with all your dough ♪
♪ For when the wind blows Oh, when the wind blows ♪
♪ The cradle will rock ♪
- I love you, baby! - I love you!
The cradle will rock!
♪ Maybe you wonder what it is ♪
♪ Makes people good or bad ♪
♪ Why some guy ♪
♪ An ace without a doubt ♪
♪ Turns out to be a bastard ♪
♪ And the other way about ♪
♪ I'll tell you what I feel ♪
♪ It's just the nickel ♪
♪ Under the heel ♪
♪ Oh, you can live like hearts and flowers ♪
♪ And every day is a wonderland tour ♪
♪ Oh, you can dream and scheme ♪
♪ And happily put and take ♪
♪ Take and put ♪
♪ But first be sure ♪
♪ That nickel 's under your foot ♪
♪ Go stand on someone's neck while you're taking ♪
♪ Cut into somebodys throat as you put ♪
♪ For every dream and scheme ♪
♪ Depending on whether:
♪ All through the storm ♪
♪ You've kept it warm ♪
♪ That nickel under your foot ♪
♪ And if you're sweet then you?! grow rotten ♪
♪ Your pretty heart covered over with soot ♪
♪ And if for once you're gay ♪
♪ And devil-may-careless ♪
♪ And, oh, so hot ♪
♪ I'll know you've got ♪
♪ That nickel under your foot ♪
♪ Croon, Croon till it hurts, baby ♪
♪ Croon ♪
♪ My heart asserts, baby Croonin' in spurts, baby ♪
♪ ls just a nerts for a tune ♪
♪ Spoon in a canoe, baby ♪
♪ Spoon ♪
♪ One built for two, baby lust me and you, baby ♪
♪ I can canoe, baby Spoon ♪
♪ Oh, the crooner's life is a blessed one J"
♪ He makes the population happy ♪
♪ For when all his cares have distressing one ♪
♪ A spoon is grand in the June-day sun ♪
♪ You spoon and spoon and never get tired ♪
♪ But it's nicer at night than in the noonday sun ♪
♪ 'Cause then you're Gary Cooper and I'm Greta Garbo ♪
♪ Just argon J"
.1' Even the poor are not immune ♪
♪ If they're without a suit they shouldn't give a hoot ♪
♪ When they can substitute ♪
♪ Find me a dream man ♪
♪ And leave us in dreamland ♪
♪ Where me and my dream man ♪
♪ Can J"
♪ When they can substitute ♪
♪ Croon ♪
♪ Spoon ♪
♪ And we love art for art's' sake ♪
♪ It's smart for art's sake ♪
♪ To part for art's sake with your heart for art's sake ♪
♪ And your mind for art's sake be blind for art's sake ♪
♪ And deaf for arts' sake And young for art's' sake ♪
♪ Until for art's sake You kill for art's sake ♪
♪ All the art for art's sake ♪