Question 1

What real-life political theater incident is recreated verbatim in the film?

Accepted Answer

Congressman Joe Starnes asking Hallie Flanagan if Christopher Marlowe was a Communist, with Flanagan's response taken directly from her 1938 HUAC testimony transcript.

Question 2

Which famous playwright appears as a spirit-like figure despite being alive during the film's setting?

Accepted Answer

Bertolt Brecht appears as a spirit-like figure, though he was still alive in 1936 when the film is set.

Question 3

What was the original 1937 production that inspired this film about?

Accepted Answer

Marc Blitzstein's 1937 anti-capitalist operetta 'The Cradle Will Rock' was about efforts to unionize steelworkers, produced under the Federal Theatre Project.

Question 4

Which major film festivals recognized this movie?

Accepted Answer

It was featured at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999 and the Istanbul Film Festival in 2000.

Question 5

Who played real-life artist Diego Rivera in the film?

Accepted Answer

Rubén Blades portrayed the character Diego Rivera.

Question 6

What true story from 1930s America does 'Cradle Will Rock' dramatize?

Accepted Answer

It centers on a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production, based on actual events of politics and art in 1930s USA.

Question 7

Which festivals and awards recognized 'Cradle Will Rock'?

Accepted Answer

It was featured at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999 and Istanbul Film Festival in 2000, and won awards from the National Board of Review in 1999 and London Critics Circle Film Awards in 2001.

Question 8

What historical gaffe involving Christopher Marlowe is depicted in the film?

Accepted Answer

A scene shows a Congressman asking if Christopher Marlowe was a Communist, based on real testimony where Hallie Flanagan corrected this ignorance, repeated verbatim from HUAC transcripts.

Question 9

Who played the real-life figures Marc Blitzstein and Diego Rivera in the film?

Accepted Answer

Hank Azaria portrayed Marc Blitzstein, and Rubén Blades played Diego Rivera.

Question 10

What was the fate of Orson Welles' planned 1984 version of this story?

Accepted Answer

It was abandoned for financial reasons, with Rupert Everett set to play Welles and Amy Irving as his wife, planned on sets from Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon A Time In America'.

Cradle Will Rock

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