The Front is one of the most accessible films about the Hollywood blacklist. It puts a very human face on the impact of one of the most heinous events in modern American history. yet the film suffers slightly because of the casting of Woody Allen. Allen adds a jolt of humor to the story, but you can never really get past the Woody Allen persona and believe this guy is a front for blacklisted writers.
The best part of the film is Zero Mostel playing a TV comic who can not get work because of the list. We see him slowly deteriorate as it becomes harder and harder for him to survive without employment. Micheal Murphy stars as the TV writer who firsts approaches Allen to present his work to the networks under Allen's name in order to sell scripts.
Director Martin Ritt, writer Walter Bernstein and actors Mostel and Herschel Bernardi were all directly affected by the blacklist and their passion for telling about this ugly episode in America's past comes through on the screen.
At The Movie House rating ***stars
*note-for other films on the subject view
Goodnight and Good Luck
Guilty By Suspicion
The Way We Were
Hollywood On Trial
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