Films from the Hollywood Golden Age are inextricably linked to the name of Ben Heckt. He became one of the most successful and sought-after screenwriters of the 30s and 40s of the last century, collaborating with such famous directors as Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and William Wyler.
Biography
Ben Heckt, American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and journalist, was born on February 28, 1894 in New York. He came from an immigrant family. His father, Joseph Hecht, worked in the garment industry. And my mother, Sarah Svernofsky, was busy running the store. The Heckts were married in 1892.
The family soon moved to Racine, Wisconsin. Ben attended high school here. As a teenager, he often spent summers with his uncle in Chicago. Parents, on the other hand, were busy with work most of the time and could not afford to devote much time to raising the boy. Perhaps that is why Ben Heckt left his home immediately after graduation. In 1910 he moved to Chicago, where his professional career began.
Ben Heckt died on April 18, 1964 of a heart attack.
Career
Ben Heckt was only 16 years old when he started working as a reporter for the Chicago Journal. His journalistic experience was based on studying and observing the dark side of human nature. He colorfully and cynically described the shortcomings of the police, gangsters, and politicians. Later, this style will be traced in the scripts written by him. In parallel with his journalistic activities, Heckt developed the skills of a writer and playwright. In 1922, he published his first novels, Eric Dorn and Gargoyles.
Involved in the city's bohemian life, Ben Hecht meets the American playwright and screenwriter Charles MacArthur. Their joint work will lead to the appearance of the plays "Front page" and "The Twentieth Century", which receive good reviews from critics and bring considerable income. Moreover, in 1931 the American film director Lewis Milestone will shoot the first film adaptation of these works. In 1940, Howard Hawks adapted the original Front Page to his film His Girlfriend Friday. And the director will take "The Twentieth Century" as a basis in his comedy work of the same name.
In Hollywood, the creative tandem of Hekt and MacArthur will be called legendary. And it's not only the success of the films they created (Soak The Rich, Wuthering Heights, Barbary Coast), but also incredibly fruitful work as screenwriters. The cinematic acclaim will attract the attention of the famous American film company, which will invite Hecht and MacArthur to work on four films. Between 1934 and 1936, they would try to create feature films that could compete with European paintings. At the same time, simultaneously acting as directors, producers and screenwriters. But all four films will fail financially and put an end to experiments in the creation of paintings in this genre. Nevertheless, the films "Crime Without Passion" and "The Scoundrel" received good reviews from film critics. These films, including Angels Over Broadway, reflect Hecht's preoccupation with German expressionist ideas, which are also reflected in his previous literary work.
Hecht continued to create both as an independent writer and in collaboration with other writers and screenwriters. At various times in his life, he worked with Charles Lederer, I. A. L. Diamond and Gene Fowler. Although Hecht never really felt comfortable in Hollywood, his reputation as a talented screenwriter kept him involved in numerous film projects. However, he continued his literary career and considered it more serious. However, his literary success eluded him, while the ideas for making films, which he offered in incredible numbers, were invariably demanded by directors.
With the outbreak of World War II, much of Ben Hecht's work was devoted to protesting against the violence and murder of his fellow Jews. He also became an ardent Zionist and joined the Irgun Jewish underground organization. And active criticism of the British position in Palestine (British Mandate in Palestine), led to the banning of screenings of his films in the UK from 1949 to 1952. Although many of them had nothing to do with this question. During this period, Hekt found it difficult to find work in Hollywood because the producers were afraid of losing the British market.
Until his death, Ben Hecht was active in various fields. From time to time he worked on scripts, wrote articles and books, and even hosted his own television talk show. Hecht's style represented a fine line between cynicism and sentimentality at its best. His characters tended to reincarnate, preferring crude individualism over comfortable conformity to social norms. And the unique style of quick emotional dialogue often helped to discern a surprisingly caring humanist in the image of a quick-witted cynic. Working in the film industry has allowed Hecht to collaborate with like-minded people who share his views on individualism, camaraderie and professionalism.
Personal life
In 1915, Ben Heckt married Marie Armstrong. At that time he was 21 years old. Soon the couple had a daughter, Edwin. He later met the writer Rose Kaylor. They had an affair and in 1924 they left Chicago together, moving to New York. In 1925, he divorced Marie Armstrong and married Keylor, with whom he lived for the rest of his life. On July 30, 1943, Ben and Rose had a daughter, Jenny.
She, like her half-sister Edwina, became an actress. But on March 25, 1971, Jenny Heckt died of a drug overdose. She was only 27 years old. In October 2015, a theatrical production about the short life of the daughter of screenwriter Ben Heckt was shown in London.
