Il prestanome

In the 50's, in New York City, the screenplay writer Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy) meets his apolitical friend, the cashier of restaurant and smalltime bookmaker Howard Prince (Woody Allen) and tells him that he can not work anymore since he is blacklisted. Prince offers to sell his scripts to the producer of a TV station using his own name and Alfred offers a 10% commission to Prince.

Prince uses the money to pay his debts and improve his life and soon he offers his name to two other blacklisted writers. Meanwhile he dates the TV screenplay editor Florence Barrett (Andrea Marcovicci). When the veteran actor Hecky Brown (Zero Mostel) is blacklisted and fired by the producer Phil Sussman (Herschel Bernardi), the idealistic Florence quits her job. But when Hecky Brown commits suicide, Prince takes a stand against the unjust system.

Today I have just watched "The Front" on VHS maybe for the third or fourth time (last time was on 31 May 2002). This fairytale about the dark period of the North America history known as McCarthyism is wrongly categorized as "comedy" and is actually one of the most important and a serious movie by Woody Allen that perfectly works with the situation of a figurehead that realizes the damage caused by the Powers that Be to the careers and lives of his compatriots and decides to react against them.

Another attraction is that the director Martin Ritt; the writer Walter Bernstein and the stars Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi and Lloyd Gough had been blacklisted in the 50's. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Testa de Ferro por Acaso" ("Figurehead by Chance")

Fictionalized look about the 1950s blacklist. Woody Allen (in a rare dramatic role) plays a man who sells the scripts of blacklisted writers under his name. He splits the proceeds with the writers. He's apolitical--he's just doing it to help friends. Then he starts to see how horrible the blacklist is and how it's destroying people and careers. He wants to take a stand--but how can he?

This is often mentioned as being a comedy. In that respect, it fails. There was nothing funny about the blacklist. But, as a drama with light moments, it works. It moves quickly, is well written (by a former blacklisted writer), well-directed (by another blacklisted man) and stars two blacklisted actors! Basically these people know what happened so that actually helps. Allen is surprisingly good in a dramatic role--who knew he had it in him? He tones down all his mannerisms and delivers a very controlled, nicely done job. Andrea Marcovicci (whatever happened to her?) is also good playing his girlfriend. And Michael Murphy is excellent as one of the blacklisted writers. And Zero Mostel is just superb as a blacklisted actor. The pain and confusion shows plainly on his face. This was also one of his last films---he died 2 years later of a heart attack. Also look for Danny Aiello in a small role. The 1950s era is captured beautifully, the film looks great and they have Frank Sinatra singing (ironically) "Young at Heart" at the beginning and end of the film. Great final line too.

But I'm only giving this a 9. The script is good but a little too simplistic and painted in very broad strokes. The bad guys are evil to the core and all the blacklisted people are shown as being victims. That's NOT how it was. They were probably writing down to appeal to a mainstream audience but went too far.

This bombed badly back in 1976--it's easy to see why. The subject matter is too strong for most audiences and the movie company (I heard) was completely at a loss on how to deal with this. Just a year before an entire blacklisting sequence was cut from "The Way We Were". Sadly Hollywood was STILL touchy about this subject in the 1970s.

This should be seen by more people--it really deserves to be discovered. A lot of people don't even KNOW about the blacklist. Well worth seeing.

I don't profess to know anything more about 'the McCarthy era' than any other non-American that wasn't around in the fifties, but this film serves as both a great slice of entertainment; and something of a history lesson. The film is said to be a comedy, although it would seem to be played out more for the drama side as aside from Woody Allen's usual neurotic quips; there aren't actually any jokes in the film. That certainly doesn't harm it, however, as Martin Ritt's film has more than enough in reserve, as the story is interesting enough on it's own; and themes of 'the witch-hunt', as well as the idea of being guilty until proved innocent shine through. The story follows Howard Prince (Woody Allen) a cashier who, when asked by his friend who is on the 'blacklist', poses as a TV writer so the blacklisted writer can still work. The film takes place in the time when paranoia over communism was rife in America, and anyone that is suspected of associating with communists was no longer allowed to work. The scam goes on, but the more Prince is dragged into it, the harder it is for him to get out.

Like I say, I didn't know much about the era before going into the film; but I'm sure it's an important part of American history; if only for the fact that it's inspired a lot of great films, including the great original version of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'. I've been a big fan of Woody Allen ever since I first saw one of his films, and his performance here takes in all the best elements of his persona. The character; a talentless man garnering praise for someone else's work, suits Allen's personality like a glove, as the paranoid actor gets to show us how neurotic he can be. Support comes by way of the likes of Zero Mostel, Michael Murphy and Andrea Marcovicci; and all give nice supporting performances. Director Michael Ritt ensures that the themes of the story are always rife, as the film presents a great sense of foreboding, and scenes such as the one that see an innocent writer told that he can't be got off the hook because he hasn't done anything help to ensure this. On the whole, The Front is a great classic film, and sees Allen in one of his best roles.

Woody Allen is "The Front" for blacklisted television writers in the 1950s in a film also starring Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Andrea Marcovicci, and Michael Murphy. Several of the film's participants - director Ritt, writer Bernstein, actors Bernardi and Mostel, were themselves blacklisted.

Woody's character, Howard Prince, has moments of humor, but "The Front" is a drama, and a very good one. Prince agrees to front for a writer-friend and later takes on other blacklisted writers for money. Then comes the day that Prince himself is subpoenaed by the committee, and he has to make a decision about where he stands.

Along the way, Howard falls in love with a principled woman, Marcovicci, who becomes disgusted with the blacklist and quits her television job, and a pathetic comedian, Zero Mostel, who claims to have marched in a May Day parade and subscribed to a communist newspaper because he had a crush on a girl. Then he watches his career shrivel up.

I grew up in the '50s and remember the Red Scare very well, as in school we were always told that the Communists were coming. In Hollywood and Washington, it was believed that the Communists were here infiltrating our government, films, and television. Whether it was true or not is a separate issue from the persecution and hysteria that took place. Actress Lee Grant, for instance, was blacklisted because she went to a funeral of someone who had been accused of being a Communist. John Garfield, Kim Hunter, Gale Sondergaard, Mady Christians, Larry Parks - just a few of the actors blacklisted. There are many examples of people whose careers and lives were ruined because they had once attended a meeting to see what this political ideology was all about, or had a friend who was a Communist. Land of the free indeed.

The Front tells the story of an average Joe Loser whose friend, a blacklisted television writer asks for his identity so he can continue working. Thus begins not only an acceptable scam, but a personal odyssey for this man, played by Woody Allen. He begins to be become a `front' for other blacklisted writers as well, presenting their material as his own. His evolution is such that while he began to do this mainly for his own profit, he ends up taking a stand on behalf of the blacklisted artists he knows and along the way, finding his own relevance in life.

While starring Woody Allen, the film was directed by Martin Ritt, a blacklisted artist himself. Additionally, it featured a blacklisted writer and several blacklisted actors, including Zero Mostel. There are definite comedic moments in the film, but they are generally limited to a line or the facial expression of a character, therefore I consider this to be a largely dramatic film. (Albeit light drama). Making a comedy about HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) and the Hollywood Blacklist is like offering a comedy about the Salem Witch Trails. Both events involved the destruction of the lives of the victims due to the paranoia and hysteria of their contemporary societies and neither subject is comic fodder.

Of the films centering on HUAC that I have seen, The Front is by far the most representative and most meaningful I have seen to date. The Front is a very important chronicle of a dark period in 20th century history and deserves the many accolades it has received.

--Shelly