The Front (1976)

Directed by

Martin Ritt

Genre

drama film, comedy film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 35m

Rated

PG

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 181 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A cashier agrees to act as a front for blacklisted television writers in 1950s Hollywood. He takes credit for their scripts, but the scheme becomes dangerous as the Red Scare intensifies.

somberseriousreflectivesatiricaltensefrustratingnostalgicunderstated

What happens

The Front is a 1976 American drama film set against the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s, when artists, writers, directors, and others were rendered unemployable, having been accused of subversive political activities in support of Communism or of being Communists themselves. It was written by Walter Bernstein, directed by Martin Ritt, and stars Woody Allen, Zero Mostel and Michael Murphy. Several people involved in the making of the film—including screenwriter Bernstein, director Ritt, and actors Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, and Lloyd Gough—had been blacklisted. The end credits list the year they were blacklisted alongside their respective credits. Bernstein was listed after being named in the Red Channels journal that identified alleged Communists and Communist sympathizers. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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