March 4, 2019
This meticulously researched biography from Gorbach, an assistant communications professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, focuses on two aspects of writer Ben Hecht (1894–1964): his remarkable versatility—he produced journalism, novels, criticism, screenplays, plays, and memoirs—and his vocal support, prior to Israel’s founding, for a Jewish homeland. Gorbach argues that the seeds of Hecht’s success lay in his experiences as a reporter in 1910s and ’20s Chicago, which informed his cynical worldview and much of his best-known work, including the 1928 Broadway smash The Front Page and the 1932 film Scarface. In Hollywood, Hecht was astoundingly productive (of his more than 60 screenplays, “over half were written in two weeks or less”). This sheer output came to be seen by critics as a sign of his “shallowness and dissolute talent.” While Gorbach feels Hecht’s literary legacy is overdue for reevaluation, he admits a troubling shadow is cast by some of Hecht’s political activities, including his public advocacy of reprisals against the British soldiers occupying what was then known as Palestine. Suggesting that Hecht’s self-conscious persona as a “tough Jew” equally shaped his literary output and political ideology, Gorbach leaves readers with a richly provocative and original take on an influential writer.
March 1, 2019
From the Twenties through the Fifties, Ben Hecht was a force of nature. An award-winning playwright (The Front Page), prolific Hollywood screenwriter (The Unholy Night; Scarface; Notorious), journalist, and novelist, he seemed destined for posthumous fame. But ask today how many people recognize his name, or how often his books are read and the answer is few and seldom. Hecht's political views were a litmus of his times. Progressing from cynic to critic of Adolf Hitler and then militant Zionist, he worked in the 1940s with gangster Mickey Cohen raising money to buy guns for the paramilitary organization Irgun in British-occupied Jerusalem. Hecht's support for the Irgun could easily be labeled fascist, but labels don't fit well here. Journalist Gorbach (communications, Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa) traces Hecht's views back to an old debate over human nature: are we amenable to reasoned argument (the Enlightenment view) or coerced to change only through force? Mainstream Zionism embraced the Enlightenment perspective. Hecht's outlook was darker. VERDICT This thoughtful and thorough study of a largely forgotten writer will interest literary and film buffs and anyone curious about the debates going on in the Zionist community in the 1930s-40s.--David Keymer, Cleveland
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