The Front (1976)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Martin Ritt

Writer:

Walter Bernstein (written by)

Release Date:

17 September 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

America's Most Unlikely Hero.

Plot:

A cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.

Plot Keywords:

1950s | Cashier | McCarthyism | Bookmaker | Communist Menace

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Howard Prince
Zero Mostel	...	Hecky Brown
Herschel Bernardi	...	Phil Sussman
Michael Murphy	...	Alfred Miller
Andrea Marcovicci	...	Florence Barrett
Remak Ramsay	...	Hennessey
Marvin Lichterman	...	Myer Prince
Lloyd Gough	...	Delaney
David Margulies	...	Phelps
Joshua Shelley	...	Sam
Norman Rose	...	Howard's Attorney
Charles Kimbrough	...	Committee Counselor
Josef Sommer	...	Committee Chairman (as M. Josef Sommer)
Danny Aiello	...	Danny LaGattuta
Georgann Johnson	...	T. V. Interviewer

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | USA:PG (Approved No. 24495) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Several people involved in this film were themselves on the McCarthy-era blacklists that it is about: director Martin Ritt; writer Walter Bernstein; and actors Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Lloyd Gough and Joshua Shelley.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Howard and Florence kiss in the park , the Bi-Level George Washington Bridge can be seen in the background. In 1952 when this movie takes place, the bridge only had 1 level.

Quotes:

Florence Barrett: Do you want a drink?
Howard Prince: [Distracted and worried] Yeah, but just a drink.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: The Front (#4.19)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Daisy Bell

Not funny but a great movie

Fictionalized look about the 1950s blacklist. Woody Allen (in a rare dramatic role) plays a man who sells the scripts of blacklisted writers under his name. He splits the proceeds with the writers. He's apolitical--he's just doing it to help friends. Then he starts to see how horrible the blacklist is and how it's destroying people and careers. He wants to take a stand--but how can he?

This is often mentioned as being a comedy. In that respect, it fails. There was nothing funny about the blacklist. But, as a drama with light moments, it works. It moves quickly, is well written (by a former blacklisted writer), well-directed (by another blacklisted man) and stars two blacklisted actors! Basically these people know what happened so that actually helps. Allen is surprisingly good in a dramatic role--who knew he had it in him? He tones down all his mannerisms and delivers a very controlled, nicely done job. Andrea Marcovicci (whatever happened to her?) is also good playing his girlfriend. And Michael Murphy is excellent as one of the blacklisted writers. And Zero Mostel is just superb as a blacklisted actor. The pain and confusion shows plainly on his face. This was also one of his last films---he died 2 years later of a heart attack. Also look for Danny Aiello in a small role. The 1950s era is captured beautifully, the film looks great and they have Frank Sinatra singing (ironically) "Young at Heart" at the beginning and end of the film. Great final line too.

But I'm only giving this a 9. The script is good but a little too simplistic and painted in very broad strokes. The bad guys are evil to the core and all the blacklisted people are shown as being victims. That's NOT how it was. They were probably writing down to appeal to a mainstream audience but went too far.

This bombed badly back in 1976--it's easy to see why. The subject matter is too strong for most audiences and the movie company (I heard) was completely at a loss on how to deal with this. Just a year before an entire blacklisting sequence was cut from "The Way We Were". Sadly Hollywood was STILL touchy about this subject in the 1970s.

This should be seen by more people--it really deserves to be discovered. A lot of people don't even KNOW about the blacklist. Well worth seeing.