The Front (1976)

You won't be disappointed!

Undescribable Perfection

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This movie was criticized when it came out because of it's humor and supposedly too lighthearted approach to blacklisting. But the director, writer and many of the actors were black listed and I think they knew it was a better way to approach the material than some turgid drama about blacklisting. Zero Mostel gives simply one of the most extraordinary performances on film in this movie. He runs the gamut and it is a crime he didn't win the supporting Oscar for this film. Woody Allen has never been better as an actor. The writer and director expose the black listing system in a way that makes you understand the human aspect of it. The acting throughout is convincing and in Zero Mostel's case, heartbreaking. His performance is reason enough to see this film. It is tremendous in it's humor, pathos and skill. You will witness many great character performances in this movie and the patina of an era long gone but not forgotten in this country. You will find familiar faces in this film which draws on many of the talents that populated the era of blacklisting.

Watching this movie without knowing who's the director I could bet this is an Allen's movie, although it means not that the Woody Allen's performance hasn't brought the movie his best. The point is that we couldn't see how Ritt led this movie since most of the elements (funny situations, the coadjutor features, the Gran finale) seem like the Allen's movies. I had already seen them in Bananas and What's up Tiger Lily. In an era that communists were chased by authorities and media, the latter used to blacklist writers who were communists sympathizers. However, most of them defended the left-wing side and it resulted in a lack of non-communists available writers able to write a plot for broadcasting and writers facing financial problems due to lack of opportunities to write. One of them was Alfred Miller, played by Michael Murphy, a brilliant and tactful writer who has been fired for this political ideology. He had the idea of having a front for him to keep on writing and paying his bills. The one called for this duty was Howard Prince (Woody Allen), a grocery clerk who wanted to get a better-financed life got the chance. There came Woody Allen playing with extreme awesomeness bringing his usual clumsiness and conceitedness. As all his former movies, Allen plays a character in the same frame as Bananas, Everything you need to know about sex but you were afraid to ask and the others Take the money and run and Love and death that still hadn't been released: a shorty clumsy regular man who wants to date gorgeous women usually taller than him resulting funny moments of self-controversy and no-way-out situations. Both Prince and Hecky Green (Zero Mostel) play comic role in the movie being incapable to work even as a paperback writer. The movie is a must-see for those in literature, politics and media. Besides comicality, Ritt points out the dark ages of censorship and political persecution that the writers and another revoked by the current government. Still, the film regards how authorities handle with dissidents in a truculent and unconstitutional way in along the centuries,making The Front a movie for all generations.

As Easily Digested Entertainment this Movie Succeeds. On the Damage that the Communist Witch Hunts caused to People's Lives simply because of Ideology and Political Beliefs it seems Reluctant to be more than a Headline. After all, the Spying and Suppression by the Committee and its Government Supporters was completely Unacceptable and Intolerable if we support Americans Rights and Individual Freedoms.The Blacklist was not "official". But, being Unofficial did Not Do Anything to Lessen the Pain and Suffering it caused. People did go to Jail and Careers were Destroyed for "not cooperating" with the "inquisition".So, although Commendable for its Willingness to Approach this as a Mainstream Movie, it Lacks the Conviction and Condemnation Deserving this Embarrassing period in History. It Points the Finger but the Smoking Gun seems Elusive or Ethereal. Note...See the excellent..."Good Night and Good Luck" (2005).

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.