The Front (film)
"The Front" is a film produced and directed by Martin Ritt, with a screenplay written by Walter Bernstein, both of whom were victims of the Hollywood blacklist during the Cold War. The narrative follows Howard Prince, played by Woody Allen, who becomes a "front" for his friend Alfred Miller, a blacklisted television writer unable to work due to his alleged communist sympathies. As Prince presents Miller's scripts as his own, he inadvertently expands his role to include other blacklisted writers, gaining fame and wealth while evading scrutiny from political watchdogs. The film delves into the ramifications of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) investigations, exploring the chilling impact on the entertainment industry and the opportunism of private investigative firms during this era of paranoia. Ultimately, the film culminates in Prince's moral awakening as he publicly denounces the oppressive actions of HUAC, reflecting broader themes of freedom of expression and justice. Although "The Front" received mixed reviews upon its release in 1976, it was recognized with an Academy Award nomination for Bernstein's screenplay, which can be interpreted as a form of reconciliation by Hollywood with its past.
Subject Terms
The Front (film)
Type of work: Film
Released: 1976
Director: Martin Ritt (1914-1990)
Subject matter:The Front dramatizes the plight of blacklisted writers and actors in the New York television industry in the early 1950’s
Significance: The film was an important Hollywood treatment of the blacklist in the entertainment industry
Produced and directed by Martin Ritt and written by Walter Bernstein, both blacklist victims, The Front may be seen as an act of retrospective self-justification as well as satiric social criticism. Its story begins as blacklisted television writer Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy) tells his unpolitical but streetwise buddy Howard Prince (Woody Allen) that he has been shut out of work because of his communist sympathies. He asks Prince to be his “front,” to present his scripts to the network as Prince’s own; after taking 10 percent of the payment for himself, Prince would pass the rest on to the writer. Prince agrees and soon is fronting for other blacklisted writers as well, becoming rich and famous, while attracting the attention of political watchdogs.
Before the film ends with the belatedly enlightened Prince’s denunciation of the House Committee on Un-American Activities’ (HUAC) repression of constitutional freedoms, The Front recalls the chilling effect on the entertainment community of HUAC investigations and the dubious activities of private “patriotic” investigative businesses, such as AWARE, Inc. and American Business Consultants, that profited from the witch-hunt hysteria.
Although The Front received a mixed critical reception in 1976, the nomination of Bernstein’s script for an Academy Award may be read as an apology by the Hollywood establishment for the punitive excesses of the Cold War era.