
Ben Hecht
Highest Rated: 100% Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
Lowest Rated: 0% A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Birthday: Feb 28, 1894
Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
One of the premier writers of the 20th century, Ben Hecht quickly established himself as a hardboiled, eminently readable Chicago newspaper reporter and columnist. He went on to pen several successful Broadway plays, including "The Front Page," one of the most widely staged productions of its era, and a number of acclaimed books, including both fiction, non-fiction and anthologies. Hollywood took notice and Hecht was soon putting his skills to work for the silver screen. Within a year, he had won an Academy Award for "Underworld" (1927) and a litany of his credits from that point onward was staggering. Some of the finest movies produced from the 1930s through the early 1960s Hecht either wrote the screenplay or was brought in for an uncredited polish. Some of his greatest works included Scarface" (1932), "Nothing Sacred" (1937), "A Star is Born" (1937), "Stagecoach" (1939), "Gone With the Wind" (1939), "Foreign Correspondent" (1940), "Tales of Manhattan" (1942), "The Black Swan" (1942), "Spellbound" (1945), "Notorious" (1946), "Kiss of Death" (1947), "Strangers on a Train" (1951) and "Guys and Dolls" (1955). His ability to turn out high-quality work in a short period of time - sometimes as little as two weeks - on such a wide variety of genres kept Hecht in near constant demand, and while he considered movies to be a lesser art form, Hecht's creativity and talent for intelligent plotting and crackling dialogue was indisputable.
Photos
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
68% | 37% | Kiss of Death | Writer | $14.7M | 1995 |
70% | 73% | Mutiny on the Bounty | Writer | - | 1962 |
17% | 22% | Queen of Outer Space | Writer (Story) | - | 1958 |
0% | 37% | A Farewell to Arms | Writer (Screenplay) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | 33% | Legend of the Lost | Screenwriter | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | 25% | The Iron Petticoat | Writer | - | 1956 |
67% | 64% | Trapeze | Writer | - | 1956 |
81% | 84% | The Man With the Golden Arm | Writer | - | 1955 |
88% | 67% | Monkey Business | Screenwriter | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Actors and Sin | Director | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet | 40% | The Secret of Convict Lake | Screenwriter | - | 1951 |
100% | 88% | Where the Sidewalk Ends | Screenwriter | - | 1950 |
83% | 85% | Portrait of Jennie | Writer | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet | 56% | The Miracle of the Bells | Screenwriter | - | 1948 |
94% | 90% | Rope | Writer | - | 1948 |
83% | 48% | The Paradine Case | Writer (Additional Dialogue) | - | 1947 |
100% | 85% | Ride the Pink Horse | Writer (Screenplay) | - | 1947 |
88% | 76% | Kiss of Death | Writer | - | 1947 |
98% | 91% | Notorious | Writer | - | 1946 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Specter of the Rose |
Director, Writer |
- | 1946 |
85% | 82% | Spellbound | Writer (Screenplay) | - | 1945 |
93% | 87% | Lifeboat | Screenwriter | - | 1944 |
No Score Yet | 74% | Tales of Manhattan | Screenwriter | - | 1942 |
No Score Yet | 33% | Second Chorus | Screenwriter | - | 1940 |
95% | 81% | Foreign Correspondent | Writer | - | 1940 |
No Score Yet | 50% | Comrade X | Screenwriter | - | 1940 |
98% | 90% | His Girl Friday | Writer (Play) | - | 1940 |
67% | 52% | Angels Over Broadway |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 1940 |
100% | 86% | Stagecoach | Writer | - | 1939 |
96% | 85% | Wuthering Heights | Screenwriter | $593.9K | 1939 |
92% | 74% | Gunga Din | Writer | - | 1939 |
No Score Yet | 14% | The Goldwyn Follies | Screenwriter | - | 1938 |
100% | 70% | Nothing Sacred | Screenwriter | - | 1937 |
No Score Yet | 50% | Once in a Blue Moon |
Director, Producer |
- | 1936 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Soak the Rich | Director | - | 1936 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Scoundrel | Director | - | 1935 |
92% | 47% | Barbary Coast | Screenwriter | - | 1935 |
86% | 75% | Twentieth Century |
Writer (Play), Writer (Screenplay) |
- | 1934 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The President Vanishes | Screenwriter | - | 1934 |
100% | 50% | Crime Without Passion | Director | - | 1934 |
76% | 81% | Design for Living | Writer (Screenplay) | - | 1933 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Unholy Garden | Screenwriter | - | 1931 |
67% | 52% | The Great Gabbo | Writer | - | 1929 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 80% | ER | Eddie Bernero (Guest Star) | 2000 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Studio One | Writer | 1949-1950 |
QUOTES FROM Ben Hecht CHARACTERS
No quotes approved yet.