A cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
Acting
Zero Mostel's devastating performance—he lived this nightmare.
Writing
Walter Bernstein's script, written by an actual blacklist survivor.
Direction
Martin Ritt, also blacklisted, directing from raw experience.
Director
Martin Ritt
Woody Allen
Howard Prince
Zero Mostel
Hecky Brown
Herschel Bernardi
Philip Sussman
Michael Murphy
Alfred Miller
Andrea Marcovicci
Florence Barrett
Remak Ramsay
Hennessey
Lloyd Gough
Delaney
David Margulies
Phelps
Joshua Shelley
Sam
Charles Kimbrough
Committee Counselor
Josef Sommer
Committee Chairman
Danny Aiello
Danny LaGattuta
Georgann Johnson
T.V. Interviewer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Most of the cast and crew were blacklist survivors, including director Ritt and writer Bernstein. Woody Allen was one of the few who wasn't.
The film was made during a brief Hollywood window when blacklist stories became permissible—just before the Reagan era shut that conversation back down.
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