The Front
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Movie Reviews of The Front
Movie Review: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down
Summary: 5 Stars
On its initial release, "The Front" was criticized for pulling its punches, for the wisecracking of Woody Allen's character getting in the way of the message. That unfair image of the movie has endured, so it's great to find Amazon reviewers so skilled in distinguising between woods and trees.
For all its humor -- and at times WITH THE HELP OF ITS HUMOR -- "The Front" exposes the full horror of politicking and politicizing, American-style. To anyone who doesn't know better, the recent "Good Night and Good Luck" gives the impression -- perhaps unintentionally -- that McCarthyism and the HUAC hearings were a fringe, almost amusing, aberration that lasted literally a silly season. For an understanding of how totally the era devastated lives and bankrupted the nation's moral standing -- and how readily this country's establishment repeats its high crimes (think the Nixon and Cheney-Bush White Houses; think the so-called Christian right and its instant "cures" for gay-ness and deceit) -- we need "The Front."
When all the proselytizing is put to one side, this movie still offers two of the most heartbreaking characterizations -- courtesy of Zero Mostel and Herschel Bernardi -- ever committed to film.
Movie Review: One of the best films ever made about the showbiz blacklist
Summary: 5 Stars
Woody Allen stars in this sharp political satire, in which a schleppy, low-life bookie is enlisted by an old friend to act as his "front," so that the friend -- a socially progressive Hollywood screenwriter -- can circumvent the Korean War-era anti-Communist blacklist. Allen is great in his role, projecting his nebbish image onto the Howard Prince character, in a fine turn that makes you wish he'd taken on more acting roles outside of his own films. Zero Mostel also stars, poignantly, as Hecky Brown, a TV comedian who also runs afoul of the censors -- Mostel's tragic role is made infinitely more moving by the fact that he himself actually was blacklisted in the 'Fifties, as were the film's director, Martin Ritt, the screenwriters and several of the other participants, many of whom star as characters in the film. Their firsthand experience with the cruelty and absurdity of this dark era in showbiz history comes through loud and clear, as they skewer the suits and sleazes who had ruined their careers decades earlier. The film's drama and comedy are not sacrificed to the political message, however, and this is a thoroughly entertaining, emotionally moving film. Highly recommended!Movie Review: Here we go again?
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this film when it was released in 1976 and have not seen it since. It affected me profoundly as I remembered coming home from school for lunch as a teenager and hearing the HUAC hearings on the radio. At the time of the release of "The Front", it was my understanding that everyone associated with the film had been blacklisted except for Woody Allen. A few months ago while visiting friends and discussing the proposed renewal of the Patriot Act, I expressed my disdain at this situation. My friend replied, "If you don't have anything to hide, why do you care what someone asks or investigates about you?" I replied that I DID CARE very much and my reasons would take a lengthy explanation but would be best illustrated by a series of films and books starting with "The Front". I would recommend to anyone with the slightest interest in this subject to start with this film, then read "Naming Names", see "Guilty by Suspicion", "The Way We Were", and "Good Night and Good Luck". All of these works are powerful, important, informative, and are also entertaining.Movie Review: Terrific comedy/drama about a dark time in US history
Summary: 5 Stars
A cashier and small-time bookie (Woody Allen) agrees to front for black-listed writers (Michael Murphy, Remak Ramsey, Marvin Lichterman) in 1950s network TV, passing off their work as his own and keeping 10% of the fee. He becomes comfortable and enjoys his new fame, but his delight at living the good life and dating a beautiful script editor (Andrea Marcovicci) gradually wanes in the face of the seriousness of the McCarthy era blacklist, the coercive tactics of the federal government, and its devastating effect on the lives of people in show business.
This is one of Allen's rare appearances in a film that he did not write and direct. He has chosen his material well. Director Martin Ritt and screenwriter Walter Bernstein, both blacklisted themselves, have crafted a marvelously entertaining and funny film that also dramatizes the tragedy of the blacklist. Allen makes the material his own so that it often seems as if he has written his own dialogue. Zero Mostel delivers a great performance as the blacklisted comedian Hecky Brown.
Movie Review: An Important Film
Summary: 5 Stars
Half a century after the witch hunt headed by senator McCarthy, The Front feels dreadfully up-to-date. People were blacklisted and their livelihoods (and in some cases, lives) were put in danger simply because they were thought to be communists (in same cases, accurately; in many others, wrongly) and, thus, a threat to America. Hearing many of the justifications for this witch hunt in the movie (they are enemies of the state, and therefore any illegal and immoral act is justified to stop them) it was easy to think of the current campaign of hatred and fear led by people like Bill O'Falafel and Ann Coulter (who not very long ago said the US should "send liberals to Guantanamo").
Despite its historical importance, and profound message, The Front is far from preachy and is never dull. On the contrary, it's a funny, entertaining movie, that should be seen by everyone.