Directed by Martin Ritt, and written by Walter Bernstein, The Front (1976) focused on the tragic anti-communist blacklist and was a very personal project for the filmmakers involved... as many had themselves been blacklisted in the 1950's. Woody Allen plays a cashier who agrees to act as a front for blacklisted TV writers, putting his name on their scripts and taking a percentage of the earnings. All goes well until the House Un-American Activities Committee calls. Witty and poignant, the film is a true Gem. The supporting cast is great, including Zero Mostel and Herschel Bernardi (both actors had been blacklisted as well).
Written and directed by Woody Allen, Bananas (1971) was the film maker's second project in which he performed multiple creative roles. Typical of Allen's early work, Bananas is light-hearted, almost slapstick in nature, and always treads softly (there is no blood, even during assassinations and shootouts). Hilarious throughout, the film focuses on a nebbish character (Woody Allen) who joins a Latin American revolution in a fictional country to prove a point, and to impress his activist girlfriend. The cast is great, including Woody Allen, (his ex-wife) Louise Lasser, Carlos Montalban, sports announcer Howard Cosell and Sylvester Stallone in an early, uncredited role as a thug.
Written and directed by Woody Allen, Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) has remained one of his most commercially successful films and earned him yet another Academy Award (Best Original Screenplay). The story starts and ends with Thanksgiving dinners two years apart, and deals with the complicated romantic lives of three sisters in the time between. Comedy and drama balance perfectly. The cast is wonderful, including Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Carrie Fisher, Barbara Hershey, Daniel Stern, Max von Sydow, Lewis Black and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
