Who is Ben Hecht?

  • (noun): United States writer of stories and plays (1894-1946).
    Synonyms: Hecht

Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht (/ˈhɛkt/ HEKT; 1894–1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some seventy films and as a prolific storyteller, authored thirty-five books and created some of the most entertaining screenplays and plays in America. Film historian Richard Corliss called him "the" Hollywood screenwriter, someone who "personified Hollywood itself." The Dictionary of Literary Biography - American Screenwriters calls him "one of the most successful screenwriters in the history of motion pictures."

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Some articles on Ben Hecht:

Herman J. Mankiewicz - Writer and Screenwriter - Success in Hollywood
... However, as "a hard-drinking gambler, he hired men in his own image Ben Hecht, Bartlett Cormack, Edwin Justus Mayer, writers comfortable with the iconoclasm of ... called the 'Central Park West Voltaire' by Ben Hecht ... Shortly after his arrival on the West Coast, he sent a telegram to journalist-friend Ben Hecht in New York "Millions are to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots ...
Charles Lederer - Personal Life - Friendships - Ben Hecht
... close and lifelong friend of screenwriter Ben Hecht, with whom he had co-written numerous screenplays ... Hecht noted that Lederer was "half Jewish and half Irish," and soon after meeting him, wired Rose, his wife, "I have met a new friend ... I hope to bring him back to civilization with me." Hecht's 1963 autobiography, Gaily, Gaily, was dedicated, "For Charles Lederer, to read in his tub." Lederer was ...
Ben Hecht - Musical Contributions
... In 1937, lyricist Hecht collaborated with composer Louis Armstrong on "Red Cap," a song about the hard life of a railway porter ... This may be Ben Hecht's only "popular" song, and it's a good one ... http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-UNEtYqOGs) Uncle Sam Stands Up (1941) Hecht contributed the lyrics and poetry to this patriotic cantata for baritone ...
Charles Lederer - Screenwriting Career - Leading Screenplays
... His friendship with Hecht led to his being hired in 1931, when he was 20, to write additional dialogue for the film version of the 1928 play The Front Page ... In 1933, he made contributions to Hecht's screenplay for Topaze, along with many others, without being credited ... Comrade X (1940), written in collaboration with Ben Hecht and directed by King Vidor is the story an American in Russia (Clark Gable) who falls in love with ...
Pascal Covici - Other Works Published
1001 Afternoons in Chicago, Ben Hecht Broken Necks {More 1001 Afternoon}, Ben Hecht Fantazius Mallare, a Mysterious Oath, Ben Hecht Kingdom of Evil, Ben Hecht The Coming Struggle for Power, John Strachey The ...

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    Ben Hecht (1893–1964)

    Innocent people can get into terrible jams, too. One false move and you’re in over your head.
    —Ben Hecht (1893–1964)