History Film / TheFront

* SadisticChoice: Whether to besmirch the name of a dead man to protect your blacklisted friends and save yourself from prison or take a moral stand. It's harder when the blacklisted friends are all divided -- one wants him to save himself, another says to tell the truth, and the third advises him to take the Fifth Amendment.

* SadisticChoice: Whether to besmirch the name of a dead man to protect your blacklisted friends and save yourself from prison or take a moral stand. It's harder when the blacklisted friends are all divided -- some want him to save himself, others say to tell the truth, and others tell him to take the Fifth Amendment.

* ShiksaGoddess: Florence is a [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]] from Connecticut, while Howard is, well, not.

* ShiksaGoddess: Florence, the [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]] from Connecticut, is romantically pursued by the Jewish Howard.

* ShiksaGoddess: Florence, the well-bred Connecticut [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]], is romantically pursued by the working-class, Jewish Howard.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Hecky Brown]], based on the real-life suicide of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Loeb Philip Loeb]], who was blacklisted and removed from his lead role in ''Radio/TheGoldbergs''. The fact that [[spoiler:Zero Mostel]] was friends with Loeb, AND died a year after the film's release, makes this even more a TearJerker. [[invoked]]

** As noted above, Hecky Brown is based on actor Philip Loeb. The character's name is also most likely a ShoutOut to Vegas nightclub comedian Shecky Greene.

** Hecky Brown is based on actor Philip Loeb, a good friend of both Zero Mostel and screenwriter Walter Bernstein who was blacklisted and subsequently committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills in a hotel room. The character's name is also most likely a ShoutOut to Vegas nightclub comedian Shecky Greene.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_461.jpeg]]

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Alfred Miller, not to be confused with actual blacklisted playwright Arthur Miller.

* UptownGirl: Played with. Florence comes from an upper-class background and is clearly mismatched with the working-class Howard, but the main conflict between them once the truth comes out turns out to be between her BourgeoisBohemian political idealism and his pragmatic desire for success and comfort. [[spoiler:He wins her over in the end by refusing to cave to the HUAC.]]

* UptownGirl: Played with. Florence comes from an upper-class [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]] background and is clearly mismatched with the working-class Howard, but the main conflict between them once the truth comes out turns out to be between her political idealism and his pragmatic desire for success and comfort. [[spoiler:He wins her over in the end by refusing to cave to the HUAC.]]

* UptownGirl: Played with. Florence comes from an upper-class background and is clearly mismatched with the working-class Howard, but the main conflict between them once the truth comes out turns out to be between her political idealism and his pragmatic desire for success and comfort. [[spoiler:He wins her over in the end by refusing to cave to the HUAC.]]

-->'''[[https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-front/ Slant Magazine]]:''' When they request Prince to give them “just one name,” even if it happens to be the name of a dead man (you can see the gears turning in Prince’s head: “Why in the world would they even need the name of a dead man if not to make a public example?”)

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Hecky Brown]], based on the real-life suicide of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Loeb Philip Loeb]], who was blacklisted and removed from his lead role in ''Radio/TheGoldbergs''. The fact that [[spoiler:Zero Mostel]] was friends with Loeb, AND died a year after the film's release, makes this even more a TearJerker.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Hecky Brown]], based on the real-life suicide of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Loeb Philip Loeb]]. The fact that [[spoiler:Zero Mostel]] was friends with Loeb, AND died a year after the film's release, makes this even more a TearJerker.

* TheFifties

* SadisticChoice: Besmirch the name of a dead man to protect your blacklisted friends and save yourself from prison. It's harder when the blacklisted friends are all divided -- some want him to save himself, others say to tell the truth, and others tell him to take the Fifth Amendment.

* UptownGirl: Played with. Florence comes from an upper-class background and is clearly mismatched with the working-class Howard, but the main conflict between them once the truth comes out turns out to be between her political idealism and his pragmatic desire for success. [[spoiler:He wins her over in the end by refusing to cave to the HUAC.]]

* UptownGirl: Played with. Florence comes from an upper-class background and is clearly mismatched with the working-class Howard, but the main conflict between them once the truth comes out turns out to be her political idealism versus his pragmatic desire for success. [[spoiler:He wins her over in the end by refusing to cave to the HUAC.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Hecky Brown]], based on the real-life suicide of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Loeb Philip Loeb]]. The fact that [[spoiler:Zero Mostel]] was friends with Loeb makes this even more a TearJerker.

* NiceGuy: Howard. In the end, Hecky says this of him even though he's plainly jealous of Howard's meteoric rise.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Hecky Brown]], based on the real-life suicide of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Loeb Philip Loeb]].
** The fact that [[spoiler:Zero Mostel]] was friends with Loeb makes this even more a TearJerker.

''The Front'' is a 1976 comedy-drama film directed by Martin Ritt and starring Creator/WoodyAllen as a bookie who acts as a front for television writers blacklisted during the RedScare of the 1950s.

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Under pressure to "name names", Howard is told he can get off easily by naming Hecky, [[spoiler:who is dead]]. No one would care, and no one thinks Howard is a sympathizer. Rather than take the easy way out, Howard tells the committee off to honor his friends, leading to his imprisonment.