Sadly Over-hyped

Good start, but then it gets ruined

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Interesting exploration of one of the darkest periods of 20th century US history: the McCarthy communist witch-hunts of the 1950s, and the resulting blacklisting of members of the movie and TV industries. Gives a good feel for the oppressive, paranoid, farcical and destructive nature of the witch-hunts and blacklists.However, the movie pulls its punches. For much of its duration, the movie is a comedy. The fact that Woody Allen stars in the lead role doesn't lend itself to the drama of the situation. A full-on drama was what was required.The final scene should have been a powerful indictment of the oppressiveness of the system. Other than the final line, it is very mild and unfocused.As mentioned, Woody Allen's presence doesn't help the drama. However, as far as comedic roles go, it was fine. Zero Mostel gives the stand- out performance - a mixture of pathos, comedy and helplessness that perfectly encapsulated the plight of the average TV/movie star.Worth watching as an indication of how stupid politicians can be (though we are reminded on a daily basis).

Why would I start with that? I always believe that the person who wants to be a hero, looking for glory and fame is a sad joke of a human being while the person who keeps their head down is the one really meant for the job to save the day. The dichotomy's explored, quirky and dramatically frank, in "The Front", a satirical "up yours" to McCarthyism and those who supported it by those who were victims, and the first Hollywood film to handle the subject.The idea of Communism is unpopular in the 1950s. Anyone who has (or had) anything to do with it was blacklisted (forbidden to work), hurting people of all walk of life, especially those in the entertainment industry. One victim is Alfred Miller (Mike Murphy of "M.A.S.H.: The Movie" and "Tanner '88"), a TV scribe who got sacked from the NBC dramatic anthology series "Grand Central". Facing family responsibilities and an ulcer, Miller approaches the tale's unlikely "hero" to a be a front: bar cashier, low-level bookie and high school chum Howard Prince (comic mastermind Woody Allen, who was a year away from getting props for creating "Annie Hall" at the time).The deal: Miller types the scripts; Prince puts a "face" on them and gets 10% of the pay. Prince takes the deal since he's in debt, especially with his responsible brother, and all the accolades, fame and money comes rolling in. He also "fronts" for Miller's fellow scribes, also banned from working. He even gets "the girl", specifically blue-blood Florence Barrett (Andrea Marcovicci), the show's socially-conscious story editor. The snag, however, comes in the form of Hecky Brown (a great Zero Mostel of "The Producers", his last film here), a vaudevillian comic who also got sacked from hosting "GC". Desperate to appease a cold-hearted Communist-hunting bureaucrat (Remak Ramsey) and get back to make a living, Brown gets close to Prince to see if he's "red" or not. Through it all, Prince, a born loser, refuses to let go on the ball, not knowing the jig is up.During the film's release, some critics have decried the film for being a soft touch against a serious subject, but director Martin Ritt ("Hud", "Norma Rae") and scribe Walt Bernstein ("The Magnificent Seven", "The Molly Maguires" with Ritt as director, and "Semi-Tough") should be given a break since they were both blacklisted themselves. "The Front" is vodka with mixed orange juice, thanks to Walt's sharp Oscar-nominated script and Ritt's steady, old-school TV direction. Mr. Allen, with his signature dry wit, accents the drink. As Prince, he's a happy-go-lucky, pseudo-intellectual who hurls spitballs at conventionalism, yet he doesn't realize that everyone's responsible for their fellow man. Sure, we can cheer him when he's on top. We can even chuckle when he relies on Miller to do a quick rewrite on a script or when he ignored by a "tootsie" when he discloses his "profession" to her. However, this story Prince is in is historical. Miller, post-surgery, notes to him that, unlike previous scams, there is no "out" when the curtains close.Reflecting his own experience with the blacklist and echoing the demise of fellow actor Phillip Loeb (the sitcom, "The Goldbergs") in the role, Mr. Mostel's really in the dark. He looks for a way out, but it's way too late. The powers-that-be are voluntarily deaf to his penance pleas, let alone ribald humor. A Catskills hotel owner financially stiffs him, after a successful mercy gig. Even the wife of a TV executive is forbidden to talk to him in a bar, all because he got "friendly" with a cute Communist girl he met at a International Workers parade some years ago. Mr. Mostel's Brown is subtlety jealous of Allen's Prince, but, seeing that he has become like his oppressors, warns him: "Take care of yourself. The water is filled with sharks". Why didn't Mr. Mostel get Oscar-nominated for this role is a wonder.Though she might not come off as strongly vigorous, Ms. Marcovicci's fine in a role that shows how women, despite being in a high-level position, were supposed to act, pre-Gloria Steinhem. When she and Mr. Allen are together, you know they work because they're too smart for a world filled with conformists and jingoists. Mr. Murphy's durable as the pal in a jam who inadvertently puts his friend in a jam, creating an infant terrible in the process. He loses it, during a lunch meet, when Prince critiques one of his friend's scripts.Along with Mostel, Ritt and Bernstein, the production has other blacklisted talent. Herschel Bernardi is a TV showrunner who's in the crosshairs of his elite bosses and money-minded, small-time sponsors; Joshua Shelly is the aforementioned hotel owner who carelessly stiffs Hecky and Lloyd Gough is another blacklisted scribe. Look out for Danny Aiello ("Do The Right Thing", Allen's "Radio Days") as a fruit stand vendor. Cinematographer Mike Chapman ("Taxi Driver") captures 1950s NYC in contained shots, reflecting the pressure McCarthyism has put on its' victims.No matter what political belief you may have, it's insidious to use the law to harass, let alone prosecute those who differently from the status quo to the point where they can't make a living. With ruined careers and destroyed lives in its wake, McCarthyism is indefensible and those who try to defend it are nothing more than certifiable. Even in its debut in 1976 (a time capsule within a time capsule), "The Front" does regard those who uphold the scandalous "ism" as certifiable, and Mr. Allen, in front of an investigation committee, tell them what to do with themselves in a profane way. Don't be surprised if you clap and cheer.

The screen time may belong to Woody Allen, but the movie belongs to Zero Mostel. Few actors are more improbable than the artfully bulky Mostel, whose round head, tiny snub nose and large expressive eyes resemble a cartoon more than an actual person. Yet his range is phenomenal. Watch the breadth as he slyly tries to work around head witch-hunter Francis Hennesee, or comically greets the diminutive Allen, or explodes in eye-popping rage at the Borscht-belt proprietor who cheats him. His metaphorical loss in the film mirrors the very real loss film-goers suffered during his years of blacklist. And it's to Allen's credit that he generously showcases this prodigious talent in what would be Mostel's last film. The movie itself handles the blacklist of the 1950's with a congenial light touch. Allen is perfect as the nebbish who fronts for his screenwriter pals, and it's fun to watch him puff up and fluff out as the spotlight shifts abruptly his way. As expected, there are many amusing Allen bits scattered throughout. Even the romantic angle with Marcovicci works nicely into Allen's character as he evolves through the story-line, ending in a perceptive example of the old "worm turns" plot twist. All in all, this 1976, Martin Ritt film amounts to an amusing look at a dark period in American civil liberties, made unusually memorable by the sublime presence of the unforgettable Zero Mostel.

The Front (1976)Deeply serious and sometimes hilarious, Martin Ritt makes an improbable critique of McCarthyism using several once-blacklisted actors and Woody Allen, then at one of his peaks of fame.Allen, though, is limited by his role, and seems to be Woody Allen rather than one of his more exaggerated characters. Some of his lines seem written by him, rather than just for him, which would be appropriate (people writing under assumed names). The real star of the show is Zero Mostel as a blacklisted comic actor. He plays it straight and zany with equal power, a real joy.Most of all is the point--that we can't forget how insidious this kind of spying and lying and persecution can get, so that even well meaning people go along as a matter of fear, or expedience, or just laziness. We'd like to think we wouldn't fall for a new McCarthy, but I think we very well might, in some new form, and sooner than we'd like. Movies like this (and Good Night and Good Luck) might forestall it. While not a work of terrible originality or genius, it's completely enjoyable and worth the time.