The Violation of Cinematic Expectations and Conventions in "Cradle Will Rock"

In the 1999 film Cradle Will Rock, writer/director Tim Robbins uses familiar cinematic conventions and popular character actors to build a specific expectation in the minds of the audience. Doing this, he makes the plot itself (which defies most or all such expectations) seem more profound. <Tab/>Robbins' use of music--always juxtaposing it, as Marc Blitzstein did in his musical The Cradle Will Rock (the creation of which is the story …showed first 75 words of 1222 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1222 total…the people it does, and featuring a variety of musical numbers--would create certain expectations in most audiences. When, ultimately, they didn't find a cute and fuzzy story in Cradle Will Rock, the dashing of those expectations will make the darkness of the Depression seem that much more stark, and the not-so-hopeful final fade to the modern-day capitalist orgy in Times Square seem downright depressing. Which seems to be what Robbins was hoping for all along.