Front, The

Martin Ritt / US, 1976

Woody Allen has an important supporting role to play in Martin Ritt’s rightly famous tale of Hollywood in the days of McCarthyism. Allen’s character allows blacklisted screenwriters to publish under his name and so achieves popularity as a scenarist. The Front – screened as part of the summer programme devoted to Woody Allen – demonstrates Allen’s qualities as an actor in a political and tragicomic setting.