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Ben Hecht

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Screenwriter

The Resume

    (February 28, 1894-April 18, 1964)
    Born in New York City, New York
    Journalist, playwright, author and screenwriter
    Crime reporter for the Chicago Daily News
    Co-wrote the play 'The Front Page' (1928)
    Wrote the books '1001 Afternoons in Chicago' (1922), 'The Collected Short Stories of Ben Hecht' (1945) and 'A Child of the Century' (1954)
    Won Oscars for Original Screenplay for 'Underworld' (1927) and 'The Scoundrel' (1935)
    Wrote or co-wrote screenplays for 'Scarface' (1932), 'Viva Villa!' (1934), 'Nothing Sacred' (1937), 'Wuthering Heights' (1939), 'Angels Over Broadway' (1940), 'Spellbound' (1945), 'Notorious' (1946), 'Kiss of Death' (1947), 'Monkey Business' (1952), 'A Farewell To Arms' (1957) and 'Circus World' (1964)
    Made uncredited writing contributions to 'Queen Christina' (1933), 'The Prisoner of Zenda' (1937), 'Angels With Dirty Faces' (1938), 'Stagecoach' (1939), 'Gone With The Wind' (1939), 'The Shop Around The Corner' (1940), 'Gilda' (1946), 'Duel in the Sun' (1946), 'Rope' (1948), 'The Thing From Another World' (1951), 'Strangers on a Train' (1951), 'Guys and Dolls' (1955), 'The Man with the Golden Arm' (1955), 'North To Alaska' (1960), 'Walk on the Wild Side' (1962), 'Mutiny on the Bounty' (1962), 'Cleopatra' (1963) and 'Casino Royale' (1967)

Why he might be annoying:

    At 12, he ran away from home to become a circus acrobat.
    For a fake newspaper story about an earthquake hitting Chicago, he and a friend dug a trench on a lakefront beach that was then photographed as one of the fissures opened up by the quake.
    He complained that his serious writing had been ruined by his Hollywood success.
    He said, 'Of the seventy movies I've written, some ten of them were not entirely waste product.'
    After a Jewish militant group blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem killing 91 people, he declared, 'Every time you blow up a British arsenal, or wreck a British jail, or send a British railroad sky high, or rob a British bank, or let go with your guns at the British betrayers and invaders of your homeland, the Jews of America make a little holiday in their hearts.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    His screenplays were known for their witty, rapid-fire dialogue.
    Critic Richard Corliss wrote, 'It can be said without too much exaggeration that Hecht personifies Hollywood itself.'
    When his uncredited screenplays are included, more of his work was featured in '1001 Movies to See Before You Die' than any other screenwriter.
    In the 1920s, he campaigned against lynchings and the KKK.
    He had to write several of his later screenplays under an alias because the British blacklisted his films over his outspoken Zionism.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 14 Votes: 28.57% Annoying