In 1932, with an unemployment of about 33 percent, American voters elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be president. To put people back to work, one of the earliest innovations was the Works Progress Administration, which provided federal funds for various projects, mostly for construction. One WPA project, the Federal Theater Project, re-employed theatrical workers around the country. The film Cradle Will Rock focuses on the fate of a leftist musical of the same name (minus the prefatory “The”) written by Marc Blitzstein (played by Hank Azaria). Directed by Tim Robbins, who won Political Film Society awards for Bob Roberts (1992) and Dead Man Walking (1996), the movie shifts back and forth in the manner of a documentary between street protests for a forty-hour work week, the management of the Federal Theater Project, theatrical personnel trying to launch the production, fat-cat wheeler-dealers of the era, and the House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of the Federal Theater. The rapid changes of scene depict the emotions and turmoil of the era, and several scenes are particularly memorable. Police brutally break up a street rally. Nelson Rockefeller (played by John Cusack) asks Diego Rivera (played by Rubén Blades) to paint a mural as the centerpiece for the opening of Rockefeller Center but then balks when he sees a portrait of Lenin and has the mural destroyed. Margherita Sarfatti (played by Susan Sarandon), an Italian Jew, sells world-famous paintings from Italian galleries to William Randolph Hearst (played by John Carpenter), who was not interested in the fact that the proceeds of the art sale would return to finance such projects as the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini’s Italy. Hallie Flanagan (played by Cherry Jones), as top administrator of the Federal Theater Project, testifies before HUAC, which is concerned about the content of several plays. As the film begins, Federal Theater Project’s budget is cut 33 percent (presumably, as we learn later, to force the firing of Communists and nonfunding of leftist productions). Actors and actresses are selected for “The Cradle Will Rock” musical, to be directed by Orson Welles (played by Angus MacFadyen) after his Broadway triumph of directing Doctor Faustus. But the union representing the performers does not want to be accused of being Communist, so all actors are forbidden to appear in the musical, and the theater doors are chained. Realizing that Blitzstein is not a member of the union, the production company decides to relocate to another theater, where he can perform the musical solo. As he begins to sing the part of the female lead, she suddenly stands up in the audience to sing her part, and members of the cast follow suit, so the musical is performed after all. However, those who have seen Nelson Rockefeller, Orson Welles, and others on the screen before, will wonder why the characters in Cradle Will Rock make no effort to portray their mannerisms; what therefore might be perceived as bad acting is a clue that some of the major events are true but the dialog and story line is fictional. What the film appears to say, in recalling this fascinating era of American turmoil and ideological posturing, is that efforts to ban artistic creations in the name of political correctness are nothing new. MH