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2 thoughts on “Woody Allen in The Front”
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http://hist380.ferrellhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/HIST-380-roject-1-3-The-Front.pdf
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Hi Ryan! Great project! This is definitely an interesting topic for a movie especially that it was not long after the era of blacklisting. In your research did you see how popular this movie was? Also did it face any criticism from the industry? I would imagine older executives in Hollywood who were involved in the blacklisting would have a unique perspective on this film. It is fascinating that it was written by two writers who were blacklisted in the 1950s, and I would like to do more research to see how they worked their way back into Hollywood. You did very throughout research, and I enjoyed your project! (109)
I have used this film in my classroom version of HIST 380. It is quite entertaining: Woody Allen is funny, the story is fairly intriguing, the situations are both sad and amusing, and it has a great scene at the end where Woody’s character pretty much tells the Congressmen what modern-day viewers want SOMEONE to tell them. However, if you read a bit deeper into the blacklist, you will find a horrifying situation. It affected Hollywood, but it also affected government workers, teachers, etc. No one was free from being called “red” (or “pink”–a sympathizer). The label made one a threat–who would want that person working for them or living next door to them? Also, often people had no idea why they were fired or why they could not find a job. People could not get passports to visit family overseas. The repercussions were endless. A chance meeting or friendship years before–including when the US and USSR were allies during WWII–would make someone suspect in the late 1940s and early 1950s. As the Cold War settled in and the initial panic ebbed, the paranoia and labeling eased; early Supreme Court approval of some of the restrictions and requirements gave way in the late 1950s and early 1960s to protections.