This time out, we're discussing The Front, written by Walter Bernstein and directed by Martin Ritt, about an unambitious man asked to work as a "front" for several blacklisted writers in the 1950s. The film stars Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Michael Murphy, Herschel Bernardi, and Andrea Marcovicci.

Our guest this episode is Melanie Anagnos, author of the crime novel Nightswimming, set in 1979 Paterson. Discussed: the greatness of Zero Mostel, the parallel universe where Woody Allen became a character actor, what we can learn from blacklist narratives today, and more.

The Front is available to rent digitally from most major platforms; there's also a region-free Bluray with some interesting-looking special features.

On the latest episode of Framed and Bound, host Tobias Carroll and guest Kerri Sullivan revisit the 1996 film Harriet the Spy.

Subjects discussed in this episode: how to tell when a movie set in NYC was not shot in NYC; a Kids in the Hall connection; the number of Tony Award winners involved with this film; Diane Duane's novels about wizards; the comic book Friday; childhood journals; the movie Quills; general Monmouth County lore.

Kerri Sullivan is the proprietor of Jersey Collective and organized the New Jersey Bookstore Crawl.

After an unexpected break, Framed and Bound returns with a new episode focusing on writer-director Robert Towne's 2006 adaptation of John Fante's novel Ask the Dust!

Joining host Tobias Carroll for this episode is Constance Squires, author of Low April Sun, available wherever books are sold.

Discussed this episode: the ideal director to adapt John Fante; when you cast the right actor at the wrong age; The Brutalist; The Committments; Saul Bellow; the hard-living literary dude canon; David Peace; Modernist literature....and so much more.