The Front, now almost 50 years old as this is written, was Woody Allen's first appearance since 1967 in a film he neither wrote nor directed. (He had appeared in the original version of Casino Royale, a strange mishmash of multiple directors and writers that was, allegedly, a James Bond movie). It was also the first time Allen appeared in a non-comedic role. There are some laughs in this film, but it's mostly a drama about the victims of the anti-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era, and specifically the practice known as "blacklisting."
Blacklisting came about beginning in 1950 when a publication known as "Red Channels" identified actors, writers, and other performing artists as communists. Someone could be listed because (as one character in The Front candidly admits) they actually adhered to communist doctrine -- but also for everything from supporting labor unions, or having donated money to leftist organizations, or supporting the Loyalist cause in Spain in the 1930s. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of these artists were fired or found themselves unable to work in the entertainment industry.
In the film, Allen's character, Howard Prince, is approached by an old friend named Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy) who had been writing for a hit television show when he finds that he cannot get his scripts read, let alone purchased by the show's producers. So Alfred asks Howard, a cashier in a restaurant, to lend him his name (and his physical presence) as a "front" -- that is, to pose as a scriptwriter then and split the fees with him. Fortunately, in those early days of television, it was much easier for an "unknown writer" like Howard to sell scripts for television shows. Indeed, Howard is so successful (and finds the practice so lucrative) that he begins to front for other writers' work, too - the better to multiply his income.
Things take on a darker tone, however, after Howard in introduced to Hecky Brown (Zero Mostel), the star of one of the shows for which he's supposedly writing scripts. Like Alfred and the other writers, Hecky is eventually blacklisted too -- but as another character puts it, unlike a writer (who can at least hide behind someone else's name), actors cannot have anyone "front" for them, leading Hecky into a slow, painful, downward spiral.
Anyone who has read the "Trivia" section on this film will know that Hecky Brown is loosely based on Philip Loeb, a former Broadway actor whose nascent television career was cut short when he, too, ended up in "Red Channels." Though ironically he was one of the few actors who was *not* fired, he came under such serious pressure and unwanted attention that he eventually resigned anyway. He would commit suicide in 1955.
In many ways, despite the film's focus on Howard, it is Hecky's predicament that is the heart of this story. Though much of its tension (and what humor there is) comes from situations like Howard being unable to fake it when he's brought in for an "emergency re-write," Hecky is already long past this point. His career is gone, his bills are mounting, and he cannot even get far less profitable work as a stand-up comedian. The Front demonstrates viscerally just how destructive the blacklist was.
Allen brings much of his familiar persona to Howard, and does a competent job portraying him -- but once again, it is Zero Mostel's performance as the slowly-disintegrating Hecky that provides the film's heart and central tragedy. Also noteworthy are Murphy as Alfred Miller and Andrea Marcovicci (in her first motion picture role) as Florence, Howard's girlfriend who is initially attracted to him because she believes he has written the scripts.
Still, perhaps the most poignant part of the film comes only with the closing credits, which note that director Martin Ritt, screenwriter Walter Bernstein, and four of the principal actors, including Mostel, were all blacklisted between 1950 and 1953. For many of them, even though the blacklist eroded by the early 1960s, many of them were unable to work in television or motion pictures for as much as half a decade later. For a nation that had defeated one kind of tyranny in the 1940s, it all too quickly allowed a different kind to flourish on this side of the Atlantic just a few years later.
Blacklisting came about beginning in 1950 when a publication known as "Red Channels" identified actors, writers, and other performing artists as communists. Someone could be listed because (as one character in The Front candidly admits) they actually adhered to communist doctrine -- but also for everything from supporting labor unions, or having donated money to leftist organizations, or supporting the Loyalist cause in Spain in the 1930s. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of these artists were fired or found themselves unable to work in the entertainment industry.
In the film, Allen's character, Howard Prince, is approached by an old friend named Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy) who had been writing for a hit television show when he finds that he cannot get his scripts read, let alone purchased by the show's producers. So Alfred asks Howard, a cashier in a restaurant, to lend him his name (and his physical presence) as a "front" -- that is, to pose as a scriptwriter then and split the fees with him. Fortunately, in those early days of television, it was much easier for an "unknown writer" like Howard to sell scripts for television shows. Indeed, Howard is so successful (and finds the practice so lucrative) that he begins to front for other writers' work, too - the better to multiply his income.
Things take on a darker tone, however, after Howard in introduced to Hecky Brown (Zero Mostel), the star of one of the shows for which he's supposedly writing scripts. Like Alfred and the other writers, Hecky is eventually blacklisted too -- but as another character puts it, unlike a writer (who can at least hide behind someone else's name), actors cannot have anyone "front" for them, leading Hecky into a slow, painful, downward spiral.
Anyone who has read the "Trivia" section on this film will know that Hecky Brown is loosely based on Philip Loeb, a former Broadway actor whose nascent television career was cut short when he, too, ended up in "Red Channels." Though ironically he was one of the few actors who was *not* fired, he came under such serious pressure and unwanted attention that he eventually resigned anyway. He would commit suicide in 1955.
In many ways, despite the film's focus on Howard, it is Hecky's predicament that is the heart of this story. Though much of its tension (and what humor there is) comes from situations like Howard being unable to fake it when he's brought in for an "emergency re-write," Hecky is already long past this point. His career is gone, his bills are mounting, and he cannot even get far less profitable work as a stand-up comedian. The Front demonstrates viscerally just how destructive the blacklist was.
Allen brings much of his familiar persona to Howard, and does a competent job portraying him -- but once again, it is Zero Mostel's performance as the slowly-disintegrating Hecky that provides the film's heart and central tragedy. Also noteworthy are Murphy as Alfred Miller and Andrea Marcovicci (in her first motion picture role) as Florence, Howard's girlfriend who is initially attracted to him because she believes he has written the scripts.
Still, perhaps the most poignant part of the film comes only with the closing credits, which note that director Martin Ritt, screenwriter Walter Bernstein, and four of the principal actors, including Mostel, were all blacklisted between 1950 and 1953. For many of them, even though the blacklist eroded by the early 1960s, many of them were unable to work in television or motion pictures for as much as half a decade later. For a nation that had defeated one kind of tyranny in the 1940s, it all too quickly allowed a different kind to flourish on this side of the Atlantic just a few years later.