Newsies

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For the stage musical based on the film, see Newsies (musical).
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Newsies
Newsies-Poster.jpg
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Produced by Michael Finnell
Screenplay by Bob Tzudiker
Noni White
Starring Christian Bale
David Moscow
Bill Pullman
Robert Duvall
Ann-Margret
Aaron Lohr
Max Casella
Gabriel Damon
Ele Keats
Music by Music
Alan Menken
Lyrics
Jack Feldman
Underscore
J. A. C. Redford
Cinematography Andrew Laszlo
Editing by William Reynolds
Studio Walt Disney Pictures
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date(s)
  • April 10, 1992 (1992-04-10)
Running time 121 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $15 million
Box office $2,819,485

Newsies is a 1992 musical drama film directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega in his directorial debut. It is loosely based on the New York City Newsboys Strike of 1899 and features twelve original songs from composers Alan Menken and J.A.C. Redford. It stars Christian Bale, David Moscow, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret. The film was an initial box office flop, but later gained a cult following on home video.[1]

Contents

Plot [edit]

See also: Newsboys Strike of 1899 and 1899 in the United States

In New York City during the 1890s, thousands of homeless and orphaned children are selling newspapers to support themselves and buy food. The "newsies" as they are called, live together in newsboys' lodging homes. Among them is 17-year old Manhattan newsboy Jack "Cowboy" Kelly (Christian Bale), who is a regular newsboy selling newspapers for Joseph Pulitzer (Robert Duvall) and his paper, the New York World. The newsboys wake up and get ready to sell papers ("Carrying the Banner"). Jack meets David Jacobs (David Moscow), who leaves school temporarily and joins the Newsies along with his little brother Les (Luke Edwards) to help his family while his father is out of work with a broken arm. The injury was work-related, but because he lacked the protection of a union he was fired with no severance. Les looks up to Jack. Jack, seeing this as an opportunity to make money by using Les because he is younger and cute, teaches Les how to trick people into buying a paper by pretending to be sick and making up headlines. The three of them duck into Irving Hall to escape being chased by a cop. Jack introduces Les and David to Medda "Swedish Meadowlark" Larkson (Ann-Margret), a vaudeville star who performs at Irving Hall ("Lovey Dovey Baby"). After they witness a violent part of the trolley strike, David invites Jack to meet his family including his sister Sarah. After declining to spend the night, Jack confesses his desire to escape to Santa Fe ("Santa Fe"). Soon, Jack and David became best friends. Shortly afterward, the price of newspapers for purchase by the newsboys is raised by ten cents, a decision made by the newspaper titans, Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.

Feeling they will be unable to bear the added cost, Jack organizes a strike with the aid of David ("The World Will Know" and "Seize the Day"). Jack struggles with his past life at home as he forms an important friendship with David and his family. Between his dream of one day going to Santa Fe and currently wanting to help his friends, he faces many difficult decisions involving money and loyalty. Along the way, the boys are aided by newspaper reporter Bryan Denton (Bill Pullman) and Medda, as well as being hindered by Snyder (Kevin Tighe), warden of "The Refuge" juvenile detention facility. Jack and the Newsies gain the cooperation of rival newsboy groups from New York and Brooklyn to team up and strike against the big-shot newspapermen. They eventually win their hard-fought demands after self-publishing and distributing a sympathetic newspaper flier ("Once and For All") and gaining the support of other non-union child workers around the city. Jack and David force Pulitzer to admit defeat, resulting with the Newsies winning the strike and Snyder being arrested. Denton tells Jack that Governor Theodore Roosevelt was grateful Jack brought the strike to his attention and Roosevelt is offering to give him a ride anywhere, and Jack requests to be taken to the train station to catch a train to Santa Fe. His friends are disappointed to see him leave, but Roosevelt convinces Jack to stay with his friends in New York City. Sarah catches up to Jack and the two kiss together with all Newsies dancing.[2][3]

Cast [edit]

Music [edit]

Soundtrack [edit]

Newsies (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by Alan Menken, Jack Feldman and J.A.C. Redford
Released April 10, 1992
Recorded 1992
Genre Soundtrack
Label Walt Disney
No. Title Performer(s) Length
1. "Newsies Prologue"   Max Casella 0:48
2. "Carrying the Banner"   Newsies Ensemble 6:15
3. "Santa Fe"   Newsies Ensemble 4:18
4. "My Lovey-Dovey Baby"   Ann-Margret 1:30
5. "Fightin' Irish: Strike Action"   J.A.C. Redford 1:50
6. "The World Will Know"   Newsies Ensemble 3:20
7. "Escape from Snyder"   Redford 2:08
8. "Seize the Day"   Newsies Ensemble 2:01
9. "King of New York"   Newsies Ensemble 2:25
10. "High Times, Hard Times"   Newsies Ensemble 2:54
11. "Seize the Day (Chorale)"   Newsies Ensemble 1:12
12. "Santa Fe (Reprise)"   Christian Bale 1:49
13. "Rooftop"   Redford 3:13
14. "Once and for All"   Newsies Ensemble 2:24
15. "The World Will Know (Finale)"   Newsies Ensemble 1:50
16. "Carrying the Banner (Finale)"   Newsies Ensemble 6:20

Release [edit]

Newsies received mixed to negative reviews from critics and audiences and flopped at the U.S. box office, becoming a box office bomb.

Critical reception [edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, its average score was 30% based on 27 reviews. Newsies has since gained a measurable cultural fan base.[1] Christian Bale has acknowledged that while it was not a commercial success, its fanbase is surprisingly large, saying, “You say something bad about Newsies and you have an awful lot of people to answer to.”[4]

Box office [edit]

The film grossed $2,819,485 domestically and ranks among the lowest-grossing live-action films produced by the Walt Disney Studios. Film critic/historian Leonard Maltin christened it Howard the Paperboy.[5][6]

Home media [edit]

In 1992 the film was released on Walt Disney Home Video, a collector's edition was released in 2001. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray, as a 20th Anniversary Edition, on June 19, 2012.

Stage adaptation [edit]

Main article: Newsies (musical)

Disney Theatrical Productions produced a stage musical based on the film that played at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey starting on September 25, 2011 through October 16. Starring Jeremy Jordan as Jack and Max Ehrich (Fenmore, The Young and the Restless) as an understudy for Jack.[7] Newsies!: The Musical contains songs from the movie, as well as several new numbers.[8][9] The songs "My Lovey Dovey Baby" and "High Times, Hard Times" were left out of the stage adaptation.

The Paper Mill Playhouse version included new songs "The News Is Getting Better" that was replaced on Broadway by "The Bottom Line" and Don't Come a-Knocking" that was replaced on Broadway with "That's Rich", and the "I Never Planned on You/Don't Come a-Knocking" Medley and "Then I See You Again" sung by Katherine and Jack was replaced with "Something to Believe In". "Fansies" was the term dubbed to fans of Newsies during the Papermill Playhouse run of the show during Newsies Fan Day, where cast members of the movie and the original musical cast met with fans before the show.[10][11]

The musical opened to previews on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre for a limited engagement from March 15, 2012 to March 29, 2012 in previews and from March 30, 2012 to June 10, 2012 in its official engagement.[12] This was later extended through August 19, 2012 after just the first weekend of previews and then extended again, this time to an open-ended run.[13] On September 19, 2011 the cast, accompanied by composer Alan Menken, performed "Seize the Day" and "Santa Fe" on The View.[14] They performed "King of New York" in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Corey Cott is currently playing newsboy leader Jack Kelly on Broadway.[15]

The show went on to earn eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, winning Best Choreography and Best Original Score.

Historical strike [edit]

The actual Newsboys Strike of 1899 lasted from July 20 to August 2. The leader of the strike was a one-eyed young man nicknamed "Kid Blink", who spoke with a heavy Brooklyn accent that was often phonetically transcribed when he was quoted by newspapers. Kid Blink is featured in the film as a minor supporting character, (Blink and another real life newsie, Maurice Cohen, were the inspiration for Jack Kelly) while the role of strike leader is given to the fictional Cowboy. The actual strike ended with a compromise: the World and Journal agreed to buy back all unsold copies of the newspapers. The history of the newsboys strike of 1899 is told in David Nasaw's book Children of the City: At Work and at Play (Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1985; Oxford University Press, 1986).

Award nominations [edit]

Awards
Award Category Name Outcome
14th Youth in Film Awards
Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture
 Christian Bale, David Moscow, Luke Edwards, Max Casella, Marty Belafsky, Arvie Lowe, Jr., Aaron Lohr, Gabriel Damon, Shon Greenblatt and Ele Keats Nominated
15th Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[16] Worst Picture
13th Golden Raspberry Awards
Worst Director Kenny Ortega
Worst Supporting Actor Robert Duvall
Worst Supporting Actress Ann-Margret
Worst Original Song "High Times, Hard Times" Won

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Collis, Clark (2007-08-31). "Spotlight on Christian Bale". EW. Retrieved 2012-06-11. 
  2. ^ IMDb - Newsies
  3. ^ Newsies VHS/DVD case
  4. ^ Random Facts, NewsiesFreak.com
  5. ^ "Toon Talk - Newsies". Laughingplace.com. Retrieved 2012-06-11. 
  6. ^ "Newsies". Christian Bale. Retrieved 2012-06-11. 
  7. ^ Sorokoff, Stephen (September 26, 2011). "Photo Coverage: Newsies Opening Night Curtain Call!". Broadway World. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 
  8. ^ "Playbill.com Article". Playbill.com Article. 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2012-06-11. 
  9. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (February 14, 2011). Extra, Extra! ‘Newsies’ Musical to Open Paper Mill Playhouse Season. The New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 
  10. ^ Rooney, David (2011-09-27). "New York Times Review". Theater.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-06-11. 
  11. ^ Reviewed by Thom Geier (2011-09-27). "Entertainment Weekly review". Ew.com. Retrieved 2012-06-11.  Text " Sep 27, 2011 " ignored (help)
  12. ^ "Read All About It: Disney's Newsies Gets Spring 2012 Broadway Engagement". Playbill.com. 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2012-06-11. 
  13. ^ "'Newsies' extends Broadway run". UPI.com. Retrieved 2012-06-11. 
  14. ^ "STAGE TUBE: Cast of Paper Mill Playhouse's NEWSIES Performs on THE VIEW!". Broadwayworld.com. 2011-09-19. Retrieved 2012-06-11. 
  15. ^ Gans, Andrew (January 12, 2012). "Bonnie & Clyde's Jeremy Jordan Will Star in Broadway's Newsies". Playbill. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 
  16. ^ "1992 15th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards". Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 30, 2013. 

External links [edit]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Newsies
Films directed by Kenny Ortega
1990s
2000s
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