tieman64 Martin Ritt, once blacklisted during the height of the Red Scare, directs "The Front". The plot? Woody Allen plays Howard Prince, a small-time bookie who has a blacklisted friend who once wrote for television. Seeking to make easy cash, Prince agrees to publish his buddy's scripts under his own, untainted name. When this scheme proves successful, Prince takes it upon himself to publish the scripts of countless other blacklisted writers. Much hilarity ensues.Though based on a very original and very interesting premise, "The Front" wastes most of its good ideas and trivialises an important period of history. The blacklist years weren't just a quirky little overreaction on the part of the United States, but a massive, bloody form of class warfare designed to eradicate any and all free thought and destroy any revolutionary or reformist movements that had the potential to impinge upon corporate profits. On one end of the spectrum, countless "soft" purges in the political and cultural fields were embarked upon. On the other end, the US government, CIA and (primarily) Britain would spend the next 90 years massacring left-wing movements, murdering democratically elected leaders and sponsoring coups against the heads of over 80 countries. These were not "quirky overreactions", but a clandestine war in which anything opposing Western capitalist interests was systematically destroyed. Often, whole political parties were removed by force or subversion, or factions and puppet dictators were armed to overthrow democratically elected political leaders, most of whom weren't "commies" but rather simply attempting to introduce reforms, egalitarian measures or nationalise resources. In the modern era, this all started with the massacres committed against the Indonesian independent movements (1898-1914 – over half a million civilian deaths). From 1903-1936, Panama, Haiti and Nicaragua became bloody, defacto US Colonial holdings, whilst the US began supporting the White Rebels and the Tsars/aristocracy during the Russian Civil War. In the 1940s, right-wing dictators were backed in the Philippines, Peru, Ukraine, Syria (Colonel Al-Zaim's dictatorship), Albania, South Korea, and Italy (the CIA bought every Italian election from 1948-76), with local democratic elections subverted and left-wing politicians/movements murdered. President Lyndon Johnson's "F**k your parliament and your constitution", uttered to Greek ambassadors, sums up US policy during this period. Coups in Greece were sponsored in 1949, 1967 and 1973, with US backed dictatorships running for a ten year period. Meanwhile, US sponsorship of the Kai-Shek family in China leads to some 18 million deaths. In the 1950s, the nationalising of resources leads to similar coups in Iran. Same story in Guatemala, Albania, Poland, Lebanon, Jordan, Guyana, Hungary, Oman, Portugal, Haiti, Taiwan, Cuba (the CIA overthrows Socorras and puts in place Batista), Costa Rica, Jamaica, Bolivia, Dominican Republic and Ecuador. In Pakistan, the US supports General Yahya and his genocide. In 1971 it puts the genocidal Idi Amin in power of Uganda. In Puerto Rico, independence movements were violently crushed. From 1950 to 75, the US supports fascist dictators in Spain. In Laos, one coup a year was instigated by the CIA for almost 2 decades. In 1961, the first democratically elected leader of Congo was assassinated by the CIA. Similar coups were spearheaded in Brazil, Honduras, Fiji, Columbia, the Balkans, Romania, Liberia, Turkey, Dominican Reublic, Uruguay, Bolivia and Indonesia. In Vietnam, the 1952 Saigon bombings were faked and blamed on "terrorist communists" to justify US intervention. About 5 million south east Asians would die in that "conflict", 40,000 to the CIA's assassination programme, Phoenix. Elsewhere the US supports dictators in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, installs dictator Kamuza Banda in Malawi and starts copious coups in Ghana. In 1968 the CIA began Operation Chaos, which spied on unions, radicals and disrupted campuses. It would eventually spy on over 1000 organisations. In 1970 the CIA installs a puppet in Cambodia and indirectly causes the Khmer Rouge massacres (they sponsor Pol Potists with 89 million). Leftist and socialist Presidents in Bolivia and Chile are overthrown and replaced with dictators. From 1962 onwards, the US sponsors pro apartheid movements in South Africa, and engages in proxy wars in Angola, Lesotho, Chad, Surinam, Mozambique, Seychelles, Namibia, Kenya, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Ethiopia and many more African countries. In 1975, the CIA and Britain overthrow the left leaning government of Australia, whilst backing brutal dictators in Angola. In the late 1970s, they arm psychos to fight off reformists in Afghanistan, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama and Iran, and back Indonesia's invasion of and massacres in East Timor. Between 1978-89, the people of Nicaragua were under attack by Washington's proxy army, the Contras. Grenada was invaded for similar reasons whilst Operation Condor removed the last vestiges of left leaning movements in Latin America. Actions against Panama, Bosnia, Venezuela, Croatia, Yugoslavia (Serbia/Kosovo) and Libya follow, then Iraq, home of CIA asset Saddam Hussein. And on and on it goes.The point? The CIA functioned as a magnified mirror image of the global "conspiracy" it imagined exited everywhere. The CIA ended up controlling/owning numerous academic journals, publishing houses and media assets (ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek, Associated Press, United Press, Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Washington Post etc) and operated fronts in universities, particularly Harvard and Colombia (anyone with communist ties was banned from the schools). Elsewhere it would engage in many black ops movements, like Cointelpro, Operation Chaos, Operation Mockingbird, Prism, Echelon and others exposed by the House Pike Report and Church Committee. The CIA rationalised these actions as part of its "war against communism", but almost none of these countries had contacts with communists or the Societ Union, and US actions began before the Russia Civil War even began. CIA analyst David MacMichael would detail how the CIA oft fabricated these target countries' ties to Russia. Between 1775 and 2008, the US military has been utilised unconscionably 776 times (216 domestic, 560 foreign); three and a half times a year to preserve the American Way Of Life.7/10 – Wastes a good premise.

madbandit20002000 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.

LeonLouisRicci 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).

ackstasis In the late 1940s and 1950s, McCarthyist paranoia reached its apex, with the unofficial blacklisting of dozens of actors, directors and writers for alleged Communist sympathies. For most, it became completely impossible to hold a job in the American entertainment industry. Some (such as directors Edward Dmytryk and Elia Kazan) gave in to HUAC pressure and named names; others (such as Jules Dassin and Joseph Losey) fled to Europe to continue making films on their own terms. For many writers, an alternative was to continue working in America, but to submit scripts through an intermediary, known as a "front." In 'The Front (1976),' Woody Allen plays a non-achieving cashier who agrees to act as a front for several blacklisted writers. Before long, he's being hailed as a screen writing genius, but not before the F.B.I. attempts to nail down his political sympathies and affiliations.Given that many of the cast and crew (including director Martin Ritt, writer Walter Bernstein and star Zero Mostel) were themselves blacklisted in the 1950s, one would be forgiven for expecting a very bitter film, not unlike 'A King in New York (1957),' which was produced following the revocation of Charles Chaplin's American visa. In this case, however, the presence of Woody Allen keeps the tone pretty light. The film is not quite a comedy, even with snippets of Allen's neurotic Jewish persona shining through, but Ritt nevertheless finds a comfortable balance of humorous situations and stern moral indictment. The mixture works well. The blending of comedy and drama suggests that the film was intended as a remembrance of the Blacklist, rather than a call for action. The McCarthy era is certainly an appalling blemish on America's recent political history, but the countercultural revolution of the late 1960s – which saw greater freedom for artistic expression – is implied as a step in the right direction.Particularly refreshing about 'The Front' is how utterly ordinary is Howard Prince. Placed before the cold glares of the HUAC members, Howard doesn't launch into any self-righteous spiels of Capra-corn (as did Jim Carrey in 'The Majestic (2001)'), but instead rather clumsily evades their questions, as though his rebellion was an eleventh-hour impulse. I liked the nice touch of the committee becoming allegorically impotent as soon as one ordinary person chose to stand up to them when it would have been easier to simply play along. Zero Mostel, whose character was partly based on stage-actor Philip Loeb, is wonderful as Hecky Brown, a big-name television star who is toppled by the HUAC for once attending a Communist rally. His anger upon learning that he'll only receive $250 for a nightclub performance is heart-wrenchingly genuine, and one suspects that he was channeling the frustration he himself had experience two decades prior.