Blacklisting in Hollywood....

[WCGreen]

It almost happened again...

I am convinced that if Michael Moore hadn't stood up for America when he accepted his Oscar for Fahrenheit 9/11, the blacklists would have been back in full force...

There is a Woody Allen movie called The Front...

It's all about blacklisted liberals during the 50's who were targeted by "Gunner" Joe McCarthy and his un American Senate Sub Committee. It's better than Good Night, and Good Luck. It goes to the heart of the matter and examines the people who were devastated by the Smear from the likes of Roy Cohn, Gunner Joe and Tricky Dick. Be prepared to watch Zero Mostel, a Borst Belt commedian litteraly fall apart in front of your eyes...

People really need to remember what could happen if someone doesn't have the courage to point out that the Emperor really has no clothes...

MAybe it can't happen again, but I wouldn't count on it...

Maybe some future meglomaniac taking over the Oval office will shut down the internet because of Anti-American websites...

I mean, they do it in China. Why is it so hard to believe they wouldn't do it here...

[RufusTFirefly]

1. In fairness, it was not a "Woody Allen movie" per se

Woody stars (sort of), but the director of The Front was the great Martin Ritt. Blacklisted himself, Ritt also directed a number of other films, including the wonderful Norma Rae.

[WCGreen]

4. Well, Woody put it all together and employed as many blacklisted

people as he could...

It was his project from start to finish...

[RufusTFirefly]

11. I'm not sure why you say this: He didn't write it, direct it, or produce it

It was written and directed by blacklisted artists.

Allen has written and directed some great movies, but he was primarily just an actor in this one. He was 12 when the blacklist began and had not yet written, directed, or acted in a movie by the time it was broken.

[WCGreen]

13. It is my understanding that he was instrumental in gathering all the

people together and insisted that as many blacklisted people as possible were included in the mix...

Just because he isn't listed as the producer or director or writer and the fact he was 12 years old when all of this began doesn't mean he wasn't aware of what happened and didn't participate in putting the project together...

Do you really think this movie would have been made if Woody wasn't invovled...

[RufusTFirefly]

14. With respect, I think you're mistaken

Allen, with five major films under his belt including What's New, Pussycat (1965), Bananas (1971), and Sleeper (1973), was a fast rising star in Hollywood. Despite his growing popularity, however, he was not the first choice for the lead;Ritt and Bernstein had been considering such big names as Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman for the role. When Ritt asked Bernstein, however, "What about that kid?," Allen was cast in his first straight dramatic role as Howard Prince, a cashier-turned-front for a blacklisted writer. Ritt later realized the impact of the actor in the film, observing that "Audiences go in expecting a Woody Allen comedy, and come out shattered."

With his only role in the project as an actor, a rarity for Allen, he was frank about his discomfort. In a 1976 interview for the New York Times, he revealed: "From the beginning I had enormous reservations about doing a film which I had not written and over which I would have no directorial control." He later conceded, "The reason I did The Front was that the subject was worthwhile. Martin Ritt and Walter Bernstein lived through the blacklist and survived it with dignity, so I didn't mind deferring to their judgment."

The Front

The Front was a very personal project for two men deeply affected by the blacklist. Casting Allen in the lead role was just that. A casting decision. And it was a gamble. Yes, he was well known at the time, but he was well known as a comedian.

[WCGreen]

15. My mistake...

I was mislead...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Given the way our Congress has been acting, or maybe

not acting these days...

I'm afraid you just might be right...

I do hate to be so pessimistic though...

The movie sounds good. Another one for the list...

[illinoisprogressive]

3. maybe that movie on Murrow would not have been possible. thanks to mm.

[aquart]

10. Ridiculous.

The film market is INTERNATIONAL. A movie banned or prevented here could be made anywhere. And there's a BIG audience for films critical of America.

What a pantload of juvenile, ignorant nonsense is getting bandwidth tonight.

[Mike03]

5. This is a bit wayward from your topic, but one of my beloved professors

in film school was a blacklisted screenwriter, and he was one of the most influential, kind teachers I ever had.

Sure, it can happen again, and it can happen in any industry.

I think it can even happen to good, honest artists who either make inadvertent mistakes or fail to live up to the expectations of particular producers, agents, etc... It's not easy to please producers in Hollywood. You can be blacklisted for failing to deliver on a particular draft of an anticipated script, or for pissing off a producer. At least that was my experience in the late eighties and nineties.

Random: Strangely, when I saw your name I could not help but think of Walon Green, I think that is his name, the brilliant screenwriter of Friedkin's "Sorcerer". At least, that is from memory--maybe I am wrong about that. He may have worked on Carpenter's "The Thing" and/or "Big Trouble in Little China." In any event, he is a brilliant screenwriter. I'm sure there are many credits I'm not thinking of right now.

[WCGreen]

6. The blacklisting happened for political reasons....

And that is what made it so Un American to me...

But you are right, people who get power tend to exercise that power for their own benefit....

[Mike03]

7. Yes

But equally as bad, screenwriters turned against screenwriters out of fear. Elia Kazan, for example. And I'm sure there were others who I can't recall.

Not having lived through that time, I had to rely on books and the verbal recollections of my professors.

But I'm really glad you brought this topic up. Not many people seem to know about this grim chapter in Cinematic history.

[villager]

8. Walon Green co-wrote one of the greatest of all westerns, "The Wild Bunch!"

[aquart]

9. Who would be manning this new list?

Who would be policing it? You really think George Clooney wouldn't be able to get work, for instance?

They DID do it here. So it's not hard to believe. The situation is a bit different now. Bill Maher's working again, too, I understand.

We have enough real trouble without raging irrational paranoia.

[rasputin1952]

12. "Situations" can change dramatically very quickly...

Who would have thought there would be warrantless wire-tapping in this country?

Who would have thought you'd have to disrobe to get on an airplane?

Who would have thought you'd be branded as a traitor or an individual that enables terrorism because you speak your conscience?

Who would have thought Michael Moore, (or any filmmaker), would be the target of of attacks because he tries to tell the truth?

Who would have thought we'd be talking about bombing/invading Iran, especially since the current war is going so poorly?

Who would have thought that veriying ballots placed on an electronic voting machine w/a simple addition of a printer would be an issue?

Who would have believed ths nation would be $9 trillion dollars in debt at this point?

It is easy to speak of paranoia, but it is no longer paranoia when facts are drawn out.