Newsies (1992)
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A group of newsboys in 1899 New York City organize a strike against a powerful publisher to fight for their rights.
The story
In 1899, 17-year-old Jack "Cowboy" Kelly lives with other struggling newspaper hawkers in New York City, selling copies of the New York World on the Manhattan streets. When David Jacobs and his younger brother Les join the group, Jack notices David's intelligence and takes them under his wing. Unlike most newsies, the brothers work to financially support their family after their father lost his factory job. After New York World publisher Joseph Pulitzer raises the prices required for newsies to buy newspapers, Jack and David angrily galvanize the other Manhattan newsies to go on strike.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1899, Jack "Cowboy" Kelly lives with other newsies in New York City. When David and Les Jacobs join, Jack takes them under his wing. After publisher Joseph Pulitzer raises newspaper prices, Jack leads a strike. The newsies face off against Pulitzer's enforcers, the Delancey brothers, and the Brooklyn newsies led by "Spot" Conlon. During the conflict, the newsies discover the corrupt Warden Snyder neglects orphans at the Refuge. After a series of battles and a temporary arrest of Jack (revealed to be Francis Sullivan), the newsies publish a "Newsie Banner" exposing child labor. This alerts Governor Theodore Roosevelt, who has Snyder arrested and releases the children. Pulitzer concedes, and Jack is eventually convinced by Roosevelt to stay in New York with Sarah Jacobs.
- First release year
- 1992
- Runtime (minutes)
- 121
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Kenny Ortega
- Writers
- Bob Tzudiker · writer; Noni White · writer
- Cast and characters
- Christian Bale · Jack "Cowboy" Kelly; Bill Pullman; Ann-Margret; Robert Duvall
- Genres
- historical musical drama; comedy-drama; musical
- Themes
- labor rights; child labor; family; solidarity
- Tone and mood
- historical; musical; dramatic
- Setting
- New York City in 1899
- Premise and plot tags
- strike; orphanage; labor movement; mass media
- Source material / true-story basis
- loosely based on the New York City newsboys' strike of 1899
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, though it later gained a cult following on home video and was adapted into a successful Broadway musical.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 39% · review count: 38; Metacritic · score: 46 · scale: 100 · review count: 19
- Awards and nominations
- Tony Award · Best Original Score · 66th Tony Awards · win
- Production trivia
- The street scenes were filmed on the rebuilt New York Street set after the fire of 1990.; The film's music was composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Jack Feldman.; The actual strike leader, Kid Blink, was the inspiration for the character Kelly.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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