Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was a pivotal American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist, born on February 28, 1894, in Manhattan to Russian immigrant parents. He began his career in journalism with the Chicago Journal, eventually transitioning to writing plays and fiction, most notably publishing his influential semi-autobiographical novel, *Erik Dorn*, in 1921. Hecht was a key figure in the Chicago Renaissance of the 1920s and co-wrote the iconic play *The Front Page*, which debuted in 1928 and has seen multiple revivals on Broadway. His transition to Hollywood marked the height of his career, where he penned numerous celebrated screenplays, including *Scarface*, *Wuthering Heights*, and *Gone with the Wind*. Hecht's work often explored themes of anti-Semitism and fascism, reflecting his personal beliefs and activism. Despite facing controversy and challenges, including a temporary removal from UK film credits due to his political stance, he remained a significant voice in American literature and cinema until his death in 1964. Hecht's contributions to both theater and film continue to resonate in contemporary storytelling.
Subject Terms
Ben Hecht
American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and journalist.
- Born: February 28, 1894
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: April 18, 1964
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Ben Hecht was born February 28, 1894, in Manhattan to Russian immigrant parents Joseph and Sara Swernofsky Hecht, and grew up in Racine, Wisconsin. In 1910, Hecht abandoned the University of Wisconsin for the lure of journalism at the Chicago Journal. He had ambitions beyond journalism, and in 1915, began publishing sketches in Little Review. In 1917, H. L. Mencken, one of his heroes, published Hecht’s first short story in Smart Set as well as a play Hecht cowrote with Maxwell Bodenheim, who became a frequent collaborator. Hecht and Sherwood Anderson attempted to write a play about Benvenuto Cellini but never completed it.
Moving on to the Chicago Daily News, Hecht was its Berlin correspondent from 1918 to 1920, became friends with artist George Grosz, and developed an interest in the avant-garde. In 1921, Hecht published his autobiographical novel Erik Dorn. This portrait of an alienated urban intellectual, still considered his most significant fiction, was hailed for uniting European modernism with an American sensibility. The novel also depicts a turbulent marriage. Hecht was married from 1915 to 1925 to reporter Marie Armstrong, mother of his daughter Edwina, and married the more literary Rose Caylor in 1925. Both women inspired characters in Erik Dorn.
Along with Maxwell Bodenheim, Kenneth Rexroth, and Carl Sandburg, Hecht led the Chicago Renaissance of the 1920’s. He created controversy in 1922 with his supposedly pornographic novel Fantazius Mallare: A Mysterious Oath. Though defended by Clarence Darrow, Hecht and artist Wallace Smith lost a lawsuit and were fined $1,000. The scandal also cost Hecht his newspaper job, and he moved to New York and began writing plays with his friend Charles MacArthur. Their 1928 play The Front Page, inspired by Hecht’s Chicago newspaper experiences, was their biggest hit. (The play was revived on Broadway in 1946, 1969, 1986, and 2016; the 2016 revival was particularly successful with critics and earned several Tony nominations.)
The success of The Front Page brought Hecht to Hollywood, where he achieved his greatest fame, writing the screenplays, often with MacArthur, for such films as Scarface, Twentieth Century (from their play), Nothing Sacred, Gunga Din, Wuthering Heights, Spellbound, Notorious, and Kiss of Death. He also worked on many screenplays credited to others, including Gone with the Wind, His Girl Friday (the most successful of several adaptations of The Front Page), Foreign Correspondent, and Roman Holliday.
Hecht continued writing fiction and plays during this period, addressing anti-Semitism in A Jew in Love and fascism in To Quito and Back. Because of his outspoken opposition to British policies in Palestine and his support for the Jewish resistance movement, Hecht’s name was removed from film credits in the United Kingdom for five years. Hecht also directed or co-directed four films, The Scoundrel, Angels Over Broadway, Specter of the Rose, and Actors and Sin and continued working as a screenwriter until his death on April 18, 1964. His stories about his years as a young reporter served as the basis of the 1969 film Gaily Gaily, starring Beau Bridges. Hecht was nominated for several Academy Awards and won for best original story for Underworld and The Scoundrel.
Author Works
Drama:
The Front Page, pr. 1928 (August 14) (with Charles MacArthur)
Drama (screenplays):
Underworld, 1927
Unholy Garden, 1931 (with Charles MacArthur)
Scarface, 1932
Twentieth Century, 1934 (with Charles MacArthur)
Crime Without Passion, 1934 (with Charles MacArthur)
Barbary Coast, 1935
The Scoundrel, 1935 (with Charles MacArthur)
Nothing Sacred, 1937
Gunga Din, 1939 (with Charles MacArthur)
Wuthering Heights, 1939 (with Charles MacArthur)
Angels over Broadway, 1940
Spellbound, 1945
Notorious, 1946
Specter of the Rose, 1946
Her Husband's Affairs, 1947 (with Charles Lederer)
Kiss of Death, 1947
A Farewell to Arms, 1957
Long Fiction:
Erik Dorn, 1921
Gargoyles, 1922
Fantazius Mallare: A Mysterious Oath, 1922
The Florentine Dagger: A Novel for Amateur Detectives, 1923
The Kingdom of Evil: A Continuation of the Journal of Fantazius Mallare, 1924
Humpty Dumpty, 1924
A Jew in Love, 1931
To Quito and Back, 1937
Miracle in the Rain, 1943
I Hate Actors, 1944 (also known as Hollywood Mystery)
The Cat That Jumped out of the Story, 1947
Bibliography
Gorbach, Julien. "Ben Hecht: The Old New Journalist." Literary Journalism Studies, vol. 7, no. 2, 2015, pp. 90–117. Focusing on Hecht's career as a reporter, this article explores Hecht's influence on the New Journalism of the 1960s.
Hamilton, Ian. Writers in Hollywood 1915–1951. Faber & Faber, 1990. Discusses Hecht and his career in the context of influential screenwriters of Hollywood's "Golden Age."
MacAdams, William. Ben Hecht: A Biography. Barricade Books, 1995. A detailed biography.