The art and theater world of 1930's New York City is the backdrop for "Cradle Will Rock". As labor strikes break out throughout the country, New York City is alive with a burgeoning cultural revolution. "Cradle Will Rock" is a tapestry of different stories interwoven. Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) commissions Mexican artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to paint the lobby of Rockefeller Center while Italian propagandist Margherita Sarfatti (Susan Sarandon) sells Da Vincis to millionaires to fund the Mussolini war effort. A paranoid ventriloquist (Bill Murray) tries to rid his vaudeville troupe of communists while a 22-year-old Orson Welles (Angus Macfadyen) directs his Federal Theater group in an infamous stage production of "The Cradle Will Rock," which is closed down on the eve of its opening by soldiers of the U.S. government. Based on true events, "Cradle Will Rock" re-lives an exciting and dangerous time in American history where individual courage stood in the face of censorship and artists risked their livelihood by performing in shows and painting their canvases.