That's the way people under suspicion in the 1940s and 1950s felt. Job loss had to be weighed against self-incrimination and personal humiliation, or worse, the betrayal of close friendships.
That's also the way viewers of this film feel. The desire to praise a worthy effort has to be weighed against the necessity to discuss it honestly.
I recall the reviews this one received 25 years ago, but I'd never seen the film until tonight. What they said then still applies today. Everyone in the film is playing in a drama about the blacklist. Except Woody Allen. He's acting in a comedy. Punchline wins out over pathos. Together they're pulling on your heartstrings, alone he's tugging at your funnybone. There's no consistency of mood or tone.
The whole scenario is completely implausible. As written, the character of Woody the Cashier would make a successful front up to the moment he first opens his mouth.
I was anxious to get a closer look at those photos in F.X. Hennessey's office, the Republican Wall of Fame, starring Thomas Dewey and so on. But that was the full extent to which I got caught up in this story. It's a shame it wasn't told more honestly, i.e., without the laughs. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg appear at the beginning of the movie in the newsreel segment. I've met one of their sons. The 1950s don't hold a lot of laughter for him.
That's also the way viewers of this film feel. The desire to praise a worthy effort has to be weighed against the necessity to discuss it honestly.
I recall the reviews this one received 25 years ago, but I'd never seen the film until tonight. What they said then still applies today. Everyone in the film is playing in a drama about the blacklist. Except Woody Allen. He's acting in a comedy. Punchline wins out over pathos. Together they're pulling on your heartstrings, alone he's tugging at your funnybone. There's no consistency of mood or tone.
The whole scenario is completely implausible. As written, the character of Woody the Cashier would make a successful front up to the moment he first opens his mouth.
I was anxious to get a closer look at those photos in F.X. Hennessey's office, the Republican Wall of Fame, starring Thomas Dewey and so on. But that was the full extent to which I got caught up in this story. It's a shame it wasn't told more honestly, i.e., without the laughs. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg appear at the beginning of the movie in the newsreel segment. I've met one of their sons. The 1950s don't hold a lot of laughter for him.