The Front

Note: I wrote this before we saw the end of the film. The second part of my post is written after.
The film “The Front” has been very entertaining, comedic and suspenseful. Through all of this, the one part that will stick in my mind is Zero Mostel’s character, Hecky Brown. The desperation that Hecky shows to get off the list was incredibly convincing. Mostel’s face as he is pleading for his job showed so much fear and pain, I believed he was truly begging for everything he had ever earned. I know that what I am describing is one of the main goals of acting (bringing the audience into the world portrayed in the movie), but Mostel achieved something more.
As we discussed in class, the Woody Allen character is greedy, the female lead is wrapped up in her own issues, and the studio executives have their own agendas. The only character that I truly felt emotion for was Hecky. I know that we are not finished with the film, and in the remaining time I may learn more about other characters. Even so, I think that the way Mostel takes a drunk, egotistical, self-aggrandizing man and shows another side, one to be pitied is to be commended. When Hecky was first introduced I was repulsed by his actions and behavior. Slowly, I found myself hoping he would not get fired, and I was outraged for him when he was paid significantly less than his usual wage.
The point I am trying to make is that without Hecky, this film may not mean as much. Another point we discussed during class was how easy being a front seems in the film. This fact really distanced me from feeling much for any of the characters, sure they seem a little stressed but other than that the audience is not shown too much of the actual damage the blacklist caused. That is until Hecky really spells out the impact it is going to have on his family and entire life if he is fired. I tried to imagine the film without him, and honestly I think as adverse to his character as I was at first, Hecky makes the film more compelling.
After we watched the end of the film:
I was in disbelief that Hecky jumped out of the window, especially after writing an entire post about how crucial he was to the film. Once again, Hecky drove the point that the blacklist was a career-crushing and life-destroying problem. All of the sudden, a man who was famous and well loved was in so much personal pain that he took his own life. Even though it was terribly depressing, the downfall of Hecky Brown was necessary for The Front to step away from the comedic viewpoint of Prince’s character and take a hard look at how devastating the blacklist was.