Cradle Will Rock Page #10

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,

- 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

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...

- 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.

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.

F*** 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 thejolson 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...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes