The Front

The Front (1976)
Director: Martin Ritt
Cast: Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Michael Murphy, Andrea Marcovicci
Memorable Line: "I don't recognize the authority of this committee to question me."

For all the inherent dramatic tension of the plot and the comedic talents in involved, The Front isn't all that dramatic or all that funny.

Harold Prince (Allen) is making it by as cashier at a restaurant and by making petty sports bets when one of his old friend, Alfred, (Murphy) approaches him with an irresistible proposition. Alfred is a blacklisted writer because of his affiliation with the communist party and is desperate to make a living again He's looking for a way to get his TV shows scripts accepted by TV producers who are being pressured to cooperate in every way with the house on Unamerican Activities. His idea is to find a "front" -- a person to represent himself as a writer with the networks to sell his scripts. And that's where Harold comes in. Harold decides that making 10% on each script for simply delivering it the producers is a sweet deal and jumps at the chance to make easy money. After the ball gets rolling, Harold becomes the hit of the town. The young woman who works on one of the shows Harold "writes" for falls for him. Harold gets a bit cocky and starts representing a stock of blacklisted writers and his popularity grows, but so does suspicion. People around Harold begin to fall to the over zealous anti-communist investigators and Harold becomes ensnared in the search to root out communists.

My two biggest problems with The Front are that it is painfully predictable and un-funny. Many people have said that it's not really a comedy, but there are comedic possibilities not exploited and playing that potential against the foil of the dramatic tension could have created a more effective movie. Also, the plot points of the movie tick by a regular and predictable pace, making it easy to predict the next complication.

Director Ritt must have felt that the material contained all the tension the movie would need because with the exception a couple scenes, he does little creatively to elevate the tension. Some say that Allen is miscast in the lead, but he acquits himself in the role. Zero Mostel is great as the actor who's life is ruined by those who want to purge any trace of communism or communists from the entertainment industry.

The Front is a good film to watch to learn about the effects of the anti-communist scourge, but, in my opinion, you do much better trying to find a good documentary on the subject.