During the gilded age, and the consumer society, a new way of looking at leisure emerged. Since worker reforms had given laborers less work hours, people had more free time on their hands, which brought about a rise in entertainment. To pass time, people busied themselves in watching sports, movies and more. Among all this, there came what’s known as the second red scare. Popularly known as McCarthyism after its most famous supporter, Joseph McCarthy, who led the search for communists in the Dies Act of 1983, better known as the House Un-American Activities Committee, HUAC, which was formed to investigate the activities of “un-American” political groups. Post-World War II, high tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union led to a cold war. People grew increasingly scared of communism and its supporters due to events like the Berlin Blockade, the Chinese Civil War, the Korean stalemate, and the conviction of Alger Hiss. High ranking government officials, like Hiss, confessed to spying for the Soviet Union. Top Secret documents concerning RDX were handed over to the Soviets by a spy ring. This caused widespread uproar and paranoia. People began to worry about U.S. national security and how the Soviet Union might drop an H-Bomb on the U.S. People wanted someone to blame and were attracted to the idea of accusing communists, this is where blacklisting came in. Communism was derided and its supporters were called “reds”. Since communism was considered a threat to the internal stability of the U.S., HUAC sought to ferret out its supporters. The blacklists were meant to exclude and discriminate against communists but critically damaged many people’s lives. Once blacklisted, people were looked down upon and no one wanted anything to do with them for fear of being added to the list themselves. One major target of the blacklists was the entertainment industry. HUAC thought that TV was putting out communist propaganda. Blacklisted people were rendered unemployable and would lose everything. A movie with this concept is The Front, which is a 1976 comedy-drama film written by Walter Bernstein and directed by Martin Ritt. Ironically, several people involved in the making of this film had been blacklisted themselves. The Front features Woody Allen as Howard Prince, a small time bookie who knows a blacklisted writer named Alfred Miller (played by Michael Murphy). Miller has lost all means of supporting himself, his work and social life have ceased to exist, yet he comes up with a risky plan to still be able to “work” and allow himself to continue with his life even after being shunned from the society. Miller proposes to Howard that he will write the scripts and Howard will “front” as the author, which would help Miller in earning money to support himself while still being able to do what he wants in the controlling society.

Howard is a poor restaurant cashier who is in major debt. His job does not give him adequate support and he purges all his money on gambling. Being an illegal bookie who places bets and cannot follow through with the results, he has many people who are after him to get their money back. Miller is a childhood friend of Howard’s, and so when he proposes that Howard write his name on the TV scripts, he is immediately ready to help. During the 1900s there was an increase in the importance of professionalism. The salaries of people with a specific job increased. And so when Miller offers Howard ten percent of the earnings from publishing the script, it only amplifies Howard’s acceptance to the proposal and he soon starts rolling in the dough. This is consistent with American society at the time. People went from “pennies to riches” in a flash. Seeing his new lavish lifestyle, Howard convinces Miller to let him take scripts from more blacklisted authors and increase his income even more. Miller brings along his other writer friends, who are doubtful at first, but Howard persuades them that everything will work out. The scripts are a success! Phil Sussman, the producer, loves them. Howard deceives everyone into thinking he is the writer, including Sussman’s script editor, Florence Barrett, who is fascinated with the amount of scripts Howard turns in, and the quality and the deep content of each one of them. Whenever confronted with the topic of the scripts and him as a writer, Howard manages to put off the questions and not let anyone know he is a fake. Florence falls in love with Howard thinking he is the true author. Little does Howard know that she is a communist.

  “All it takes is one man to stand up to these bastards, one man to say that he’s not putting up with this. It’s illegal what they’re doing. It’s wrong.” Miller says to Howard. This shows how aggravated people were from the blacklists, and yet they could do nothing about it. The blacklists were used for personal gains as well as preventing people from speaking out against  government actions. McCarthy used the blacklists to gain power and the support of the people by quieting his opponents using fear and telling everyone that he could rid the country of “the dirty reds”. In fact, McCarthy even accused someone because there was no proof he wasn’t a communist. Herb, a blacklisted writer, even says to Howard, “they’re selling the cold war, Howard, and they use the blacklist for anyone who isn’t buying”. But even with all this talk, Howard doesn’t understand the seriousness of being blacklisted. All he sees is an opportunity to gain money off blacklisted writers by fronting for them. Once he gets involved in the entertainment business however, he watches famous actors lose everything they hold dear because they were seen as communist sympathizers. Howard begins to see how devastating the list can be. He sees Hecky Brown, a rising star, lose everything due to the list. Hecky gets fired from his job, everyone starts avoiding him, and when he is given an opportunity to perform and earn some cash, he is denied full payment. Howard begins to sympathize with the blacklisted individuals. Howard wants to do something about the blacklisting, but this involves the risk of being blacklisted himself, and he is reluctant to let go of his new, extravagant lifestyle but starts to see the bigger picture. He helps Florence start her own communist newspaper. And when questioning occurs, Howard refuses to answer, which leads to his arrest. Most people would use the fifth amendment, which states that no person shall be held to answer unless in front of a grand jury, to avoid any questions that investigators asked. But, no answer would often result in a blacklisting and arrest. The right to remain silent was ignored. HUAC investigations went against the fifth amendment and were unconstitutional, yet they continued throughout the U.S. for a few years.

It was a danger to even be seen near someone that had been blacklisted, investigators were always on the watch. One of Miller’s friends, Herb, is being followed by investigators. Howard cannot meet him in public because the investigators will connect him to Herb as another communist. As Howard is walking up to him, Herb says “just keep walking” to prevent investigators from linking Howard to him. And so Howard is forced to meet up with the writers secretly in a restaurant. But the investigators are keeping watch and have followed them there too! Eventually, the investigators use the fact that they have been meeting up to accuse Howard of being a communist. HUAC Investigators would try to use anything to convict someone of being a communist. They would try to establish evidence even without the said person being in custody and/or without interrogation, which was in violation of the Miranda Rights. The investigations were illegal and disrupted American society. Even if someone was caught near a communist event, like a parade or fund raiser, they would be blacklisted and thought to be communist sympathizers.

People’s lives were ruined after they were blacklisted. In The Front, Hecky Brown loses everything after he is accused of being a communist. To regain what he had lost, the investigator, Hennessy, offers him a deal. Hennessy wants Hecky to spy on Howard and determine whether he is a communist. Hecky complies, and sure enough helps get Howard caught. After gaining everything he wanted, Hecky looks back and realizes what he has done. He cannot live with himself and jumps out the window. Investigators would make deals and promise freedom if the person were to tell them about people who might be communists. Oftentimes, people would name random people to get out of the blacklist themselves. They would come up with excuses to why they were involved in communist actions. For example, once Hennessy starts asking Hecky questions, he makes up an excuse of only doing it all so he could “get laid”.  McCarthyism was bad for the U.S. because it caused widespread hysteria, and cold war between the U.S. and Soviet Union  which led to the second red scare. HUAC was formed to investigate un-American activities, and to discriminate against communists. Investigators formed blacklists that would destroy people’s lives. Their methods were often against the law and accusations were used for more than just ferreting out communist supporters. Senator Joseph McCarthy even used it for his own personal gains but his actions still haunt the U.S. today. The 1976 movie, The Front, does a nice job of portraying American society at that time. Howard Prince is a poor restaurant cashier who makes it big by fronting for blacklisted writers. Although he is initially unaffected by what’s happening around him, Howard begins to see the horrible affects of the blacklist. He sees all these writers lose their only source of income and just have their life fall apart. The movie shows a popular star, Hecky Brown, lose everything simply because he is declared a communist. Blacklists were meant to make people quiet and not speak up. Florence Barrett is a script editor who is also a communist, and is tired of keeping shut. Wanting to do something about the list, Howard helps her start her own communist newspaper. Investigator Hennessey is doubtful about Howard and so he decides to make a deal with Hecky. To get himself off the list, Hecky helps Hennessy discover that Howard is a communist. And because Howard does not answer the questions asked by investigators, he is arrested. Overall, I think that this movie was a success. It accurately portrayed American society at the time and also managed to capture the viewers attention with emotions. I would recommend this movie for everyone. People can learn not to give up and to fight for what’s right. To fight for what they believe in and not let anyone stop them. Political figures could also learn from the mistakes of McCarthy and how he put society in turmoil just for power.