The Front (1976)

75% of critics liked it
(20 reviews)
73% of users liked it
(4,060 ratings)

The McCarthy-era "witch hunts" in the entertainment industry set the stage for this comedy drama set in the 1950s. Howard Prince (Woody Allen) is a cashier at a corner bar who works as a small-time bookie on the side, with little success. One day, Howard's old friend Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy),… More The McCarthy-era "witch hunts" in the entertainment industry set the stage for this comedy drama set in the 1950s. Howard Prince (Woody Allen) is a cashier at a corner bar who works as a small-time bookie on the side, with little success. One day, Howard's old friend Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy), a successful television writer, makes a business proposal to him; Alfred's leftist political views have resulted in him being blacklisted from the major television networks, and he can no longer get work. Alfred asks Howard to act as a "front" -- Howard puts his name on Alfred's scripts, sells them, and takes a cut of the payment for his trouble. Howard's new career as a "writer" is an instant success, and soon Howard is fronting for a handful of blacklisted scribes while earning a healthy income and becoming the toast of the television industry; another fringe benefit is a romance with beautiful network employee Florence Barrett (Andrea Marcovicci). However, comic Hecky Brown (Zero Mostel), who had a brief fling with socialism years before, now finds his past catching up with him, and he's told in order to save his job as host of a weekly television show, he has to get the goods on some suspicious figures, among them Howard Prince, whose background looks a little too clean for comfort. The Front was written by Walter Bernstein, who was himself blacklisted during the 1950s, as were co-stars Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, and Lloyd Gough. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Martin Ritt
Written By: Walter Bernstein
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 17, 1976 Wide
On DVD: Feb 17, 2004

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby, New York Times
It recreates the awful noise of ignorance that can still be heard.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The tragedy implied by this character tells us what we need to know about the blacklist's effect on people's lives; the rest of the movie adds almost nothing else.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Ritt's direction is all sweaty close-ups and mismatched shots.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
As directed by Martin Ritt and played by Woody Allen, this is a well intentioned but oversimplified tale, which is mostly useful as an historical reminder of a shameful chapter in Hollywood's blacklisting era
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A pretty sluggish movie.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Although made by those who were punished by being blacklisted during that period, the film disappoints by being so politically mild.
Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
Any reminder of the tribulations undergone by the blacklistees serves a useful and eye-opening purpose, but good intentions and a sense of martyrdom don't by themselves fill the glass.
Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
Columbia TriStar Home Video's DVD delivers The Front in both full-frame and its original 1.85:1 (anamorphic). The 'film-like' print is clean and well defined, and the transfer is flawless.
, Time Out
An empty monument to the senility of American liberalism.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
The Front may not be all you need to know about the 1950's blacklist tragedy, but it's certainly one of the finest films ever made on the subject.
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
Forget Bill Murray and Jim Carrey. Zero Mostel's brutally moving performance in The Front shows you what a real "clown who cried" performance is made of.
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
Bernstein smartly suggests how capitalism actually benefited from the oppression of suspected communists.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Proves that no one can escape the long and intrusive arm of politics and evade involvement
, Film4
It could have been a fierce sideswipe, but ends up a gentle swat.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Josh M

The Front is a worthwhile but flat film that combines a Woody Allen comic persona with an earnest desire to educate modern audiences (this was 76, it really feels like distant history now) with the Mcarthy Era witchhunts as they affected the enterainment world.Martin Ritt, himself… More
The Front is a worthwhile but flat film that combines a Woody Allen comic persona with an earnest desire to educate modern audiences (this was 76, it really feels like distant history now) with the Mcarthy Era witchhunts as they affected the enterainment world.Martin Ritt, himself having been blacklisted, assembled a strong cast who are up to the challenge, including Zero Mostel -also blacklisted-, in his most serious and touching (and almost last) screen appearance. However, this film feels weak and except for the last scene is not dramatic or high stakes enough to care. Woody Allen is a 'front' for some outcast Communist sympathizing writers. Until the last very effective scene, the movie wastes potentially dramatic betrayals by having eveyone be too nice and noble. The film would have been much more interesting, if, as the situation seems to lead to, someone would betray someone. Nobody does and the film doesn't live up to its promise. In any case, it's worth a rental if you can find it and are interested in the subject matter. George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck is a much more effective and dramatic movie about the same historical event, but if you want a bigger viewing list., give this one a look.
Michael G

Not that great but the last line makes the movie well worth seeing.
Jeffrey M

An effective dramedy that works as an indictment of McCarthyism and the use of blacklisting during the Red Scare. I wish the film had opted to focus more on the nuances of blacklisting, such as exploring the political motives of the committees, but instead it decided to focus more on… More
An effective dramedy that works as an indictment of McCarthyism and the use of blacklisting during the Red Scare. I wish the film had opted to focus more on the nuances of blacklisting, such as exploring the political motives of the committees, but instead it decided to focus more on Allen's character, which worked well, it just didn't help the film make the large statement it intended to make. At the same time, it did do a good job of showing the effects on those targeted, as well as the great ironies involved. 3.5/5 Stars

Cast

            Woody Allen as Howard Prince

            Zero Mostel as Hecky Brown

            Herschel Bernardi as Phil Sussman

            Michael Murphy as Alfred Miller

            Andrea Marcovicci as Florence Barrett

            Remak Ramsay as Hennessey

            Marvin Lichterman as Myer Prince

            Lloyd Gough as Delaney

            David Margulies as Phelps

            Joshua Shelley as Sam

            Josef Sommer as Committee Chairman

            Danny Aiello as Danny La Gattuta

            Georgann Johnson as TV Interviewer

            Scott McKay as Hampton

            John Bentley as Bartender

            Jacob Bernstein as Alfred's Child

            William Bogert as Parks

            David Clarke as Hubert Jackson

            Jack Davidson as Congressman

            Macintyre Dixon as Harry Stone

            Joey Faye as Waiter

            Lucy Lee Flippin as Nurse

            Julie Garfield as Margo

            Polly Holliday
            
            Joe Jamrog as FBI Man

            Charles Kimbrough as Committee Counselor

            Sam McMurray as Young Man at Party

            J. Patrick McNamara as Federal Marshall

            Murray Moston as Boss

            Norman Rose as Howard's Attorney

            John Slater as TV Director

            Marilyn Sokol as Sandy

            Donald Symington as Congressman

            Matthew Tobin as Man at Party

            Rudolph Willrich as Tallman

            Albert M. Ottenheimer
            
            Michael B. Miller as FBI Man
See full cast