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Harold Adolphe Hecht (June 1, 1907 – May 26, 1985) was an American film producer, dance director and talent agent. He was also, though less noted for, a literary agent, a
/ref>''Wilkes-Barre Times Leader'', July 1 1933, p5
/ref>''The Wilkes-Barre Record'', July 3 1933, p20
/ref> In 1947, he co-founded Norma Productions, an
/ref>''Burt Lancaster – An American Life''
Kate Buford, Da Capo His father was born on November 17, 1882, in Austria. While employed as a sailor at the age of seventeen, he immigrated to New York City in January 1899. Once in New York he worked in construction and eventually made it up to the position of a building contractor. His mother was born on January 18, 1882, in ustria Joseph and Rose were married in 1906 in New York City and had two children; Harold (born 1907) and Janet Hecht (b. 1910, later Janet Garfield, mother of Warren Garfield, a noted
''The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle'', July 13, 1962, p2 Hecht is reported to have frequented the Union Settlement house on East 104th Street in East Harlem.
Margueritte Elaine Bryan Brault, University of Arizona, 1979 Hecht was among the first students accepted to attend the new school in late 1923. While there he studied and appeared in plays with
theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backing, and hire ...
, a theatre director
A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
and a Broadway actor. He was a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...
and the Screen Producers Guild.
During his first stay in Hollywood in the early to mid-1930s, Hecht was one of the leading dance directors in the movie industry, working with the Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
, Mae West
Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...
, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
, W. C. Fields, Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...
, Maurice Chevalier and Marion Davies
Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...
.''The Courier Journal'', June 23 1933, p25/ref>''Wilkes-Barre Times Leader'', July 1 1933, p5
/ref>''The Wilkes-Barre Record'', July 3 1933, p20
/ref> In 1947, he co-founded Norma Productions, an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
film production company, with his business partner and managed actor Burt Lancaster. From 1954 to 1959, the Norma Productions subsidiaries Hecht-Lancaster Productions
Hecht-Hill-Lancaster was a production company formed by the actor Burt Lancaster in association with his agent, Harold Hecht, and James Hill. In 1948 Lancaster and Hecht formed Norma Productions (named after his wife), which later became Hecht-L ...
and later Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions, were the biggest and most important independent production units in Hollywood. Following the end of the Hecht-Hill-Lancaster partnership, Hecht continued as one of the top three independent producers in Hollywood, a position he shared with Stanley Kramer and the Mirisch brothers
The Mirisch Company was an American film production company owned by Walter Mirisch and his brothers, Marvin and Harold Mirisch. The company also had sister firms known at various times as Mirisch Production Company, Mirisch Pictures Inc., Miris ...
, for the next ten years.
At the 28th Academy Awards
The 28th Academy Awards were held on March 21, 1956 to honor the films of 1955, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
At just 90 minutes, '' Marty'' became the shortest film to win Best Picture, as well as the second to hav ...
ceremony in 1956, Hecht received a Best Picture Oscar for the 1955 Hecht-Lancaster Productions film '' Marty''. He was again nominated three years later at the 31st Academy Awards ceremony for the 1958 Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions film ''Separate Tables
''Separate Tables'' is the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan, both taking place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The first play, titled ''Table by the Window'', focuses on the ...
''. The film did not win but Hecht did accept the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in place of Wendy Hiller
Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller, (15 August 1912 – 14 May 2003) was an English film and stage actress who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly 60 years. Writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation ''Rating the Movie Stars'', desc ...
who could not be present. The Broadway play version of ''Separate Tables
''Separate Tables'' is the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan, both taking place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The first play, titled ''Table by the Window'', focuses on the ...
'', produced by Hecht-Lancaster Productions, was nominated for the Best Play Award at the 11th Tony Awards ceremony in April 1957 In November 1959 Hecht was chosen by United States President Dwight Eisenhower to accompany the cultural exchange program committee in a trip to Russia when ''Marty'' was selected by the USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
as the first American film to be screened in that country since World War II.
Fourteen of Hecht's film productions (and an additional three on which he was a choreographer) have won and been nominated for several awards and prizes at various ceremonies and film festivals, including; Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, Golden Globe Award, British Academy Film Awards, Bodil Awards
The Bodil Awards are the major Danish film awards given by the Danish Film Critics Association. The awards are presented annually at a ceremony in Copenhagen. Established in 1948, it is one of the oldest film awards in Europe. The awards are give ...
, Directors Guild of America Award
The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards.
Catego ...
, Writers Guild of America Award, National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
Awards, New York Film Critics Circle
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, magaz ...
Award, Laurel Awards
The Laurel Awards was an American cinema awards system established to honor films, actors, actresses, producers, directors, and composers. This award was created by the ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' magazine, and ran from 1948 to 1971 (with the ...
, David di Donatello Award, Bambi Award and the Online Film & Television Association Award; and at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
, the Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
and the Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...
. Four of the films Harold Hecht was associated with have been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States National Film Preservation Board
The United States National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) is the board selecting films for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. It was established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988. The National Film Regis ...
and have been selected for preservation in the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
' National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
; ''Duck Soup'' in 1990, ''Sweet Smell of Success
''Sweet Smell of Success'' is a 1957 American film noir drama film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, and Martin Milner, and written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, and Mackendrick fr ...
'' in 1993, ''Marty'' in 1994 and '' She Done Him Wrong'' in 1996.
Early life
Harold Adolphe Hecht was born on June 1, 1907, in Yorkville, New York City, to Joseph Hecht and Rose (née Loewy) Hecht.Joseph Hecht Death certificate/ref>''Burt Lancaster – An American Life''
Kate Buford, Da Capo His father was born on November 17, 1882, in Austria. While employed as a sailor at the age of seventeen, he immigrated to New York City in January 1899. Once in New York he worked in construction and eventually made it up to the position of a building contractor. His mother was born on January 18, 1882, in ustria Joseph and Rose were married in 1906 in New York City and had two children; Harold (born 1907) and Janet Hecht (b. 1910, later Janet Garfield, mother of Warren Garfield, a noted
film trailer
A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and techni ...
producer).
He attended PS 169, graduating in spring 1923 at the age of sixteen."Harold Hecht"''The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle'', July 13, 1962, p2 Hecht is reported to have frequented the Union Settlement house on East 104th Street in East Harlem.
Studies and Broadway career
Just as Hecht was looking for his vocation, the very field he wanted to be in was interviewing students for a new school. In November 1923, Richard Boleslavsky, a Russian immigrant and former student ofKonstantin Stanislavsky
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Soviet Russian ...
, opened the American Laboratory Theatre
The American Laboratory Theatre was an American drama school and theatrical company located in New York City that existed during the 1920s and 1930s. It was a publicly subsidized, student-subscription organization that held fund-raising campaign ...
, the first school in the United States to teach Stanislavski's system of acting."The Theory and Practice of Actor Training at the American Laboratory Theatre"Margueritte Elaine Bryan Brault, University of Arizona, 1979 Hecht was among the first students accepted to attend the new school in late 1923. While there he studied and appeared in plays with
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...
(who later took Stanislavski's system and Americanized it into the method acting
Method acting, informally known as The Method, is a range of training and rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, u ...
system), Stella Adler
Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress and acting teacher.
''
''Variety'', October 27, 1931, p6"Le Baron's Lyrics"
''Variety'', November 3, 1931, p6 ''Chi Chi and Her Papas'', a 1924 German comedic play originally written by Armin Friedmann and Fritz Lunzer under the title ''Sie und ihr Zimmerherr'', had been translated into English by
''The Film Daily'', November 5, 1931, p8"A Little from Lots"
''The Film Daily'', October 28, 1931 Steiner also composed three original songs and the score for the film adaptation, while the movie's producer, William LeBaron, wrote the lyrics.
''Variety'', November 17, 1931, 2/26 New studio head, David O. Selznick clashed with equally positioned Charles Rogers and similar arguments went on between producer William LeBaron and former vice-President Joseph I. Schnitzer. Not only were crew positions scheduled to be cut (as the two studios merged into a single location), but some of the pictures too were cancelled. As part of the agreement, all 20 Pathé pictures in production at the time of the acquisition were to be made at RKO's studio. However, the 16 films on RKO's production schedule were not given the same security and for a variety of reasons, ''Chi Chi and Her Papas'' was one of the few to get shut down. LeBaron had already spent $100,000 within the four weeks of pre-production but neither Selznick nor Schnitzer liked the idea of the film and felt it was too racy and non-conducive to the American taste. A few weeks later Hecht found work in the Los Angeles theater business. LeRoy Prinz was producing and directing the Edmunt Joseph and
''Variety'', January 5, 1932, p3 Prinz had clashed with the original choreographer, Billy Grant and Hecht came in to replace him. Other crew members included Earl Dancer staging the choir with music by
''The New York Times'', May 28, 1985 Hecht's first assignment at Paramount was directing two dance ensembles in the Marx Brothers' college football
''Variety'', June 21, 1932, p50 ''Hullabaloo'' opened on May 26 at the
''Hollywood Filmograph'', November 19, 1932, p10 Karl Hajos composed and conducted the 30-piece orchestra and the cast included Herbert Evans, Ruth Gillette, Alex Callam, Florinne McKinney, Franklin Record, Roland Woodruff, Diane Warfield, Paul Sauter, Rolloe Dix, William Jeffries, Harold Reeves and Evelyn Cunningham. The play opened on Monday November 14 at the Columbia Theater in California. In late November 1932 Hecht became involved in a series of Mae West projects, which all eventually culminated into a single picture.Studio Placements
''Variety'', November 29, 1932, p12"A Little from Lots"
''The Film Daily'', December 2, 1932, p10 Earlier that year Paramount had signed Mae West to a contract and the actress was eager to step up from the lower-billed role she received in her first picture, '' Night After Night''. She was billed fourth, after George Raft,
''Variety'', November 8, 1933, p6 But the censors objected and Paramount worked quickly to change a few scenes, re-title the film to ''Diamond Lil'' and tried again to get it into production. The censors objected again, Paramount went back to work and, hoping to fool the censors into thinking they were submitting an all-new film, re-titled the project ''Ruby Red''. But the censors found far too many similarities between ''Ruby Red'' and ''Diamond Lil'' and blocked the production completely. West and Paramount decided to merge ''Ruby Red'' into another West film in the writing stages, '' She Done Him Wrong'', using the cast and crew already hired for ''Ruby Red''. This final version of the script made it into production. Producer LeBaron, who had left RKO to work for Paramount, hired Hecht to work on ''She Done Him Wrong'' back when it was still a separate entity from ''Ruby Red''. Hecht was also hired for dance routines on ''Ruby Red''. Ultimately, all of Hecht's material was merged into a single film and used on ''She Done Him Wrong''. The film was directed by Lowell Sherman and starred West, Cary Grant,
''Variety'', February 28, 1933, p10 Hecht put together a number that included a line of 36 girls for the Mark Sandrich film starring
''The Hollywood Reporter'', March 14, 1933, p7 Dave Gould took over Hecht's work on the RKO film and received screen credits for the dance routines. Once Hecht was free from his Paramount contract in April 1933, RKO hired him again, this time to direct the dance numbers on '' Bed of Roses'', a film directed by
''Variety'', October 31, 1933, p29"Hecht's Fox Switch"
''Variety'', October 31, 1933, p2"A Little from Lots"
''The Film Daily'', October 24, 1933, p6 Hecht first went to Warner Bros. to choreograph a
''Hollywood Filmograph'', March 3, 1934, p3 Hecht's numbers in the picture were lauded by critics. In January 1934, Hecht was approached by Universal again, this time for '' Glamour'' a film produced by B. F. Zeidman, directed by William Wyler and starring Constance Cummings and Paul Lukas. In May he was approached by Stanley Bergerman for another Roger Pryor film, ''
''Motion Picture Daily'', December 26, 1934, p7 The shorts were to be based on errors made by college students in filing out official forms, hence making them "goonies". Hecht's new production unit, formed for the purpose of making these shorts in December 1934, was called Goonies Inc. However, the ''Goonies'' shorts were never produced, for reasons unknown. In January 1935, Hecht and his friend Josef Berne were given the go ahead to direct their own Technicolor (using the three-strip process) short at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The color process was still considered a novelty at the time, making this deal, for a new director, quite a generous one."Little from Lots"
''The Film Daily'', January 22, 1935, p3 ''Gypsy Night'' (known under the working title ''Song of the Gypsies'') was produced by
In November 1935, exactly four years after leaving, Hecht returned to New York City and took employment at the Summer Hotel. He was then hired by the Theatre Guild and positioned as assistant director and assistant stage manager for the Leonard Lawrence Atlas play ''But for the Grace of God'' in 1936. The play was produced by Sidney Harmon and directed by Benno Schneider."But for the Grace of God"
Internet Broadway Database Hecht was not the original stage manager of the play and only came in through Schneider's insistence."Testimony of Leopold Lawrence Atlas"
'' Hearings'', March 12, 1953 ''But for the Grace of God'' opened on January 12, 1937, and ran for forty-two performances. It was during this time that Hecht became a member of the Communist Party, subscribing to the '' Daily Worker'' and attending select meetings at the New York City Communist Party headquarters on 4th Avenue and the Workers Alliance of America. He also studied five hours a week, taking classes like labor studies, political economy, current events and the rise of
/ref> Saunders was horrified by Hecht's approval of racial equality and in August of that same year testified against him, the Federal Theater, the Workers Alliance of America and entire production of ''Sing for Your Supper'' at an anti-communist hearing in Washington, D.C. ''Sing for Your Supper'' eventually opened on either March 15 or April 24 (the date is debated) 1939 at the Adelphi Theatre."Sing for Your Supper"
Internet Broadway Database It was reasonably successful, running forty-four performances and closing on June 30. Feeling that his employment at the Federal Theatre would not be renewed after the play, Hecht left New York in either July or August 1939.
''Film Daily Year Book'', 1947, p491 During a show-going holiday in New York City in late November 1945, Lillian Schary, Dore Schary's sister, suggested to Hecht that he go see a new Broadway play at the Lyceum Theater. '' A Sound of Hunting'', which had opened off-Broadway a couple of weeks earlier, was showcasing a brand new actor, Burt Lancaster. Hecht was immediately impressed with Lancaster's performance. He later said of that night "When I saw Burt Lancaster in ''A Sound of Hunting'' on Broadway (in 1945), I knew he had it. I don't know how you could miss it. He was so dominating, so much larger than life". Hecht attended the play many more times before it closed after twenty-three performances on December 8. When nearly all the major Hollywood studios starting coming at Lancaster with offers, his friend and co-star in the play,
/ref> Together they were invited to restaurants, hearing offers from David O. Selznick, 20th Century-Fox and
Kate Buford, Da Capo Publishing, 2000 Stories are told about the time Hecht was introduced to Lancaster on the last night of the play. The actor said he'd been courted by the big agencies. Hecht told him, "If you sign with a big agency, you'll be assigned to a junior agent who gets a salary, and has two dozen unknowns to find work for." Hecht opted for honesty. "I know everybody, but I have only a few clients. If you signed with me, you'd be at the top of my list and I have to eat so I'd have to keep you working". Lancaster signed with Hecht and they went out to celebrate at a restaurant. There Hecht said, "You know, I really don't like being an agent. I want to produce pictures". Lancaster replied that he wanted the same, which led to Hecht's famous retort, "Come with me and in five years maybe we can make it". The actual time was 19 months. Through Hecht's negotiations, Lancaster signed a seven-year contract, the longest term a studio was legally allowed to keep an actor under contract at the time, with Hal B. Wallis' Paramount-financed, independent production company, Hal Wallis Productions. The exclusive contract gave Lancaster an option for one outside, independent picture a year, giving the agent/actor room to produce a yearly film, thought they initially never believed the clause would be used.''Arizona Republic'', June 24 1956, p42
/ref> A few months later, in April 1946, Hecht and Lancaster were sitting in the bar of the Barbizon-Plaza Hotel in New York City, having a last drink before Lancaster was off for the filming of ''
Brian Hannan, p247 During this time Hecht became an officer at Irving Mills'
/ref> ''Marty'' was also one of the many films considered by Hecht-Lancaster Productions to be made into a television show. An original pilot was made with Shecky Greene in the late 1950s and later (unrelated to Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions) with Tom Bosley. Neither were sold to the networks. Hecht-Lancaster Productions' second film to be released in 1955 was ''The Kentuckian (1955 film), The Kentuckian'', another large-budget adventure film shot in Technicolor using the CinemaScope widescreen technology on location in the Kentucky mountains. the screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author A. B. Guthrie Jr. from Felix Holt's novel ''The Gabriel Horn'' and was Burt Lancaster's official directorial debut. Guthrie had already famously adapted ''Shane (film), Shane'' in 1952 and his novel, ''The Big Sky (film), The Big Sky'', was made into a successful Western by Howard Hawks that same year. Hecht and Lancaster hired famed composer Bernard Herrmann for the soundtrack, already renowned at the time for his work with Orson Welles. Herrmann is now best remembered as a close collaborator of Alfred Hitchcock, composing the soundtracks to ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho'', ''Vertigo (film), Vertigo'' and ''North By Northwest''. In addition to starring Lancaster, ''The Kentuckian'' featured Dianne Foster, Diana Lynn, John McIntire and was the film debut of Walter Matthau, who played the heavy. As part of its publicity, Hecht hired artist Thomas Hart Benton (painter), Thomas Hart Benton to paint a life-sized portrait of Lancaster and Donald MacDonald (in character), posing with their dog Faro. The painting, also known as ''The Kentuckian (painting), The Kentuckian'', has been exhibited at a number of museums over the years and is currently part of Los Angeles County Museum of Art's permanent collection. The film competed at the Venice Film Festival for its top prize, the Golden Lion Award. The last film released under the Hecht-Lancaster Productions banner (prior to changing the company's name) was the massively budgeted circus film ''Trapeze (film), Trapeze''. Also filmed in Technicolor with CinemaScope lenses, the film starred Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Italian sex symbol Gina Lollobrigida. The script went through a number of writers including James Jones (author), James Jones (''From Here to Eternity (novel), From Here to Eternity''), Ernest Lehman, Ben Hecht, James R. Webb, Wolf Mankowitz and Liam O'Brien. ''Trapeze'' was shot in Paris, France with locations such as the indoor arena Cirque d'Hiver, with recently knighted director Carol Reed, Sir Carol Reed. The film is noted for having the largest promotional allowance of the times, with a reported $2 million for publicity. It paid off and was the third best box office earner of the year. Many of its premieres featured local circus performers who were hired to parade through the streets. Though it failed to make an impact at the Academy Awards, it won several awards including the Bambi Award for Best Actress – International, the Berlin International Film Festival#Awards, Berlin International Film Festival Silver Berlin Bear Award for Best Actor, the Berlin International Film Festival Bronze Berlin Bear Award for Audience Poll and a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. On June 12, 1956, Hecht joined the Producers Guild of America, Screen Producers Guild as their 150th member. That year he also returned to Broadway to bring English playwright Terence Rattigan's hit show ''Separate Tables'' to the American stage, with plans to turn it into a film for Hecht-Lancaster Productions. The Broadway production opened on October 25, 1956, and was highly successful, running for 332 performances at the Music Box Theatre and closing on September 28, 1957. The play was directed by Peter Glenville and starred Margaret Leighton, Eric Portman, Donald Harron, Beryl Measor, Phyllis Neilson-Terry, Helena Carroll and May Hallatt. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards at the 11th ceremony in April 1957, winning one for Margaret Leighton as Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, Best Actress. The other nominations included Best Play (The Producers Theatre and Hecht-Lancaster Productions), Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, Best Actor (Eric Portman), Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play, Best Featured Actor (William Podmore), two for Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, Best Featured Actress (Beryl Measor and Phyllis Neilson-Terry) and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play, Best Direction (Peter Glenville).
/ref> But Hecht had enjoyed the freedom of being an independent film producer for twelve years and was reluctant to deal with a major Hollywood studio's problems. He had also been offered a similar position at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer two years earlier, which he had not accepted for the same reason. Hecht turned down Paramount's offer and the position was eventually filled by Jack Karp. The second proposal interested him much more. Producer Alan J. Pakula had purchased the film rights to Elliott Arnold's action novel, ''Flight from Ashiya'', and approached Hecht to co-produce it."Harold Hecht Schedules His First Solo Film"
''Boxoffice'', May 11, 1959, p18 Hecht and Lancaster had previously purchased the screen rights to one of Arnold's Western books, ''Blood Brother'', and came very close to turning it into a picture (it was eventually made as ''Broken Arrow (1950 film), Broken Arrow'' with James Stewart). Pakula commissioned Arnold to adapt ''Flight from Ashiya'' into a screenplay while Hecht approached such stars as Clark Gable, Ronald Reagan and Tuesday Weld for the leads. But that summer Hecht became involved with other film projects that soon took on priority and it would be four years before ''Flight from Ashiya'' was filmed, with a different script and an all-new cast including Yul Brynner. On top of promoting a backlog of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions films that were coming out in 1959–1960 (''The Rabbit Trap'', ''Cry Tough'', ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'', ''The Devil's Disciple'', ''Take a Giant Step'' and ''The Unforgiven''), Hecht was busy planning future United Artists-financed films from the H-H-L unit (including ''The Way West''). He also formed a new film production company with Canadian actor Glenn Ford. Their first film together was to be Evan Hunter's novel, ''A Matter of Conviction'', concerning members of a Harlem street gang tried for murder (later released as ''The Young Savages''). Glenn Ford had already starred in another Hunter adaptation, ''Blackboard Jungle''; the film was nominated for four Oscars. Hecht was hoping that the new combo would be as successful and hired more top Hollywood personnel to work on ''The Young Savages''; John Gay to write the screenplay and Robert Rossen to direct."H-H-L Have Parted But Two to Come"
''Films and Filming'', September 1959, p271 But by the end of the year, Glenn Ford had left the project and in early 1960 Rossen dropped out to focus on his future Oscar-nominated film, ''The Hustler''. Many of the projects that Hecht worked on between 1959 and 1964 shifted back and forth between independent solo productions and Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions ventures. Because of a financial deficit owed to United Artists when Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions decided to call it quits in 1959, the three partners were obligated to make a number of films for the studio in an attempt to recoup the costs. Some of the films were to be as individuals, others were required to be under the Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions banner. In that manner, ''The Young Savages'' became a Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions film when Burt Lancaster was cast in the lead, replacing Glenn Ford, in early 1960.
With Lancaster in the picture, ''The Young Savages'' headed in a new direction. Hecht hired J.P. Miller, who had worked on ''The Rabbit Trap'' and had since been nominated for an Emmy Award, and Edward Anhalt, a two-time Academy Award nominee who had won a Best Screenplay Oscar for the 1951 film ''Panic in the Streets (film), Panic in the Streets'', to rewrite the script. Meanwhile, Lancaster approached respected young television director John Frankenheimer who had already done a low-budget picture, ''The Young Stranger'', a few years prior but ''The Young Savages'' has since been considered by most as his true film debut. Lancaster and Frankenheimer would make a total of five films together. In turn, Frankenheimer hired another television acquaintance, the promising young actor Sydney Pollack, as a dialogue coach for the teenage hoodlums who needed an authentic New York City accents. ''The Young Savages'' was partly filmed on location in New York City with three-time Academy Award nominated cinematographer Lionel Lindon. Lindon had won an Oscar in 1957 for his work on ''Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Around the World in Eighty Days''. The cast featured Shelley Winters, who had just won an Oscar for ''The Diary of Anne Frank (1959 film), The Diary of Anne Frank'', Edward Andrews, who had just made ''Elmer Gantry (film), Elmer Gantry'' with Lancaster and Dina Merrill, who had just finished Blake Edwards' ''Operation Petticoat'' with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. Telly Savalas made his film debut playing the role of a tough cop, not unlike his future TV character in ''Kojak''. ''The Young Savages'' was released in the spring of 1961 through United Artists, but unfortunately was not the success that Hecht had anticipated.
Immediately after filming wrapped on ''The Young Savages'', Hecht and Lancaster started filming their next project. ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' was once again financed by United Artists, as part of the recoup deal. The biopic was a romanticized depiction of Robert Stroud, a life-sentenced murderer who taught himself ornithology while confined in prison, and who became an authority on bird medicine. Stroud authored a series of books on the subject and gained enough recognition that a biography of his life was accounted by Thomas E. Gaddis. Gaddis' novel was first optioned by Twentieth Century-Fox in the late 1950s but the project was strongly opposed by the prison system which did not want to dignify the public's perception of the criminal. In 1960 Hecht and Lancaster purchased the film rights and hired Guy Trosper, an Academy Award nominee, to write the screenplay. Filming began on location in San Francisco in the summer of 1960, with British director Charles Crichton. But due to disagreements with Lancaster, Crichton was fired after a mere week of shooting. Hecht and Lancaster approached Frankenheimer to take over as director. No fewer that four film editors were hired and then fired. The rough cut ran four hours. Finally, when shooting wrapped, Lancaster personally supervised the editing. The result was an acclaimed and Academy-nominated performance for his acting.
Two top cinematographers were hired to work on ''Birdman of Alcatraz''; Burnett Guffey, who had won an Oscar in 1954 for his work on ''From Here to Eternity'' and had been nominated in 1957 for ''The Harder They Fall (1956 film), The Harder They Fall'', and John Alton, who had worked with Lancaster on ''Elmer Gantry'' but was most known for the iconic film noir, ''The Big Combo''. With Lancaster in the lead, the rest of the cast featured Karl Malden, a two-time Oscar nominee, once for ''A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film), A Streetcar Named Desire'', another for ''On the Waterfront'', Thelma Ritter, a five-time Oscar nominee, Telly Savalas, Neville Brand, Edmond O'Brien, an Oscar winner for ''The Barefoot Contessa'' who had appeared in Lancaster's first film, ''The Killers'' in 1946, Hugh Marlowe, who had appeared in ''Elmer Gantry'' and Whit Bissell, who had appeared in two other Lancaster films, ''Brute Force'' and ''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' as well as in Frankenheimer's ''The Young Stranger''. The film also features an uncredited bit part by Len Lesser, who in the 1990s gained fame as Uncle Leo in ''Seinfeld''. Elmer Bernstein returned to compose the soundtrack, his second collaboration with Hecht after his triumph on ''Sweet Smell of Success''.
''Birdman of Alcatraz'' was another major success at film festivals and award ceremonies. After its release in the summer of 1962, it was nominated for four Oscars including one for Lancaster as Best Actor in a Leading Role, one for Telly Savalas as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, one for Thelma Ritter as Best Actress in a Supporting Role and one for Burnett Guffey for Best Black-and-White Cinematography. It won three Laurel Awards, one for Top Drama, one for Top Male Dramatic Performance and one for Top Female Supporting Performance. The British Academy Film Awards gave Lancaster an award for Best Foreign Actor and the Golden Globe Awards nominated him for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Savalas for Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, Best Supporting Actor. The Directors Guild of America Award nominated Frankenheimer for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures and the Writers Guild of America Award nominated Trosper for Best Written American Drama. At the Venice Film Festival, it was nominated for its top prize, the Golden Lion, and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, Volpi Cup Award for Best Actor and the San Giorgio Prize Award. It also made the National Board of Review Awards' Top Ten Films list and was ranked number 76 on American Film Institute, AFI's list, ''100 Years…100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies''.
''The Bee'', June 29, 1961, p17] On August 25, 1960, Gloria sued Hecht for divorce alleging mental and physical suffering. Other causes stated included frequent arguments and Harold's extended absence from the family home while working on film productions. Gloria demanded over $1,300,000 in community properties and full custody of their three children. The filing for divorce procedure was granted by the Santa Monica, California court on September 7, 1960, and on June 28, 1961, the divorce was finalized. Harold's estimated $2–4 million value went under appraisal while the ruling over custody of their three children was postponed for an additional 60 days. Part of the estate included original Vincent van Gogh drawing ''The Plain of La Crau'', purchased in 1955.Vincent van Gogh Auctions, 2013
/ref> Additional court sessions were held in July 1961, August 1962, April 1963 and June 1963, where Gloria sued for additional alimony. The court's decision concluded that Harold would pay alimony to Gloria for 121 months (a little over 10 years) regardless of occupation or remarriages.
''Justia US Law'', January 18, 1968 If Harold was to pass away before the end of the ten years, his estate was to continue payments. On July 12, 1963, Gloria remarried to Franklin Desser, an attorney from New York City, and became Gloria Hecht Desser. In January 1968, Harold filed for appeal over the alimony ruling but was denied.
''Boxoffice'', October 29 1962, pW1
/ref> *George Willner, writer"Testimony of Harold Adolph Hecht, Accompanied By His Counsel, Edward Bennett Williams"
''Investigation of Communist activities in the Los Angeles area'', March 23
Harold Hecht on the Internet Broadway Database
*
Transcript of Harold Hecht's HUAC Interview
Harold Hecht on Turner Classic Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hecht, Harold 1907 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American businesspeople American choreographers American entertainment industry businesspeople American film people Film producers from New York (state) American film production company founders American male musical theatre actors American male stage actors American musical theatre directors American people of Czech descent American talent agents American theatre directors American theatre managers and producers Broadway theatre producers Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from pancreatic cancer Film choreographers Film directors from New York (state) Hollywood talent agents Jewish American male actors Male actors from New York City Norma Productions people Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award Businesspeople from New York City People from Yorkville, Manhattan United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Film directors from New York City 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers United States Army Air Forces soldiers 20th-century American Jews
''
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an American theatre director and drama critic. In 2003, he was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. theater by PBS.
, Anne Revere, Lenore Romney and Francis Fergusson.
Hecht excelled at The Lab and was accepted into its Auxiliary Acting Group, granting him the privilege of appearing in the school's produced plays, while remaining under Boleslavsky's teachings beyond the two years required to graduate. While attending The Lab, Hecht appeared in ''The Straw Hat'' (October–November 1926), ''Big Lake'' (April 1927, from a story by Rollie Lynn Riggs), ''Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' (November–December 1927), ''Dr. Knock'' (February–March 1928), ''Grand Street Follies'' (May–October 1928, with dances staged by James Cagney) and ''The Wild Duck
''The Wild Duck'' (original Norwegian title: ''Vildanden'') is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is considered the first modern masterpiece in the genre of tragicomedy. ''The Wild Duck'' and ''Rosmersholm'' are "often ...
'' (November 1928 – January 1929).
Many of The Lab's students worked on additional aspects of the plays that the school produced and Hecht was most drawn by choreography. He also worked under Boleslavsky, both in The Lab's productions and on other Broadway productions, as stage assistant. In 1929 Boleslavsky left for Hollywood and Hecht continued to attend The Lab headed by Maria Ouspenskaya
Maria Alekseyevna Ouspenskaya (russian: Мария Алексеевна Успенская; 29 July 1876 – 3 December 1949) was a Russian actress and acting teacher.Nissen, Axel. 2006. ''Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywoo ...
and Maria Germanova.
After the American Laboratory Theatre closed in the spring of 1930, Hecht continued working on Broadway as either dancer or choreographer until late 1931. During this period he worked with Mikhail Mordkin, Martha Graham, George White George White may refer to:
Politicians
* George White (died 1584) (c. 1530–1584), MP for Liverpool
* George White (Liberal politician) (1840–1912), British Liberal member of parliament, 1900–1912
* George E. White (politician) (1848–1935), ...
and Albertina Rasch
Albertina Rasch (January 19, 1891 – October 2, 1967) was a naturalized American dancer, company director, and choreographer.
Early life
Rasch was born in 1891 (although she would later shave five years off her age), in Vienna (in what was ...
. He also worked on ''Les noces
''Les Noces'' (French for The Wedding; russian: Свадебка, ''Svadebka'') is a ballet and orchestral concert work composed by Igor Stravinsky for percussion, pianists, chorus, and vocal soloists. The composer gave it the descriptive title " ...
'' at the Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
.
First Hollywood career
Beginning at RKO
In October 1931 Richard Boleslavsky invited Hecht to join him in Hollywood to choreograph the dance numbers on an upcoming project he was set to direct atRKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...
."Chi Chi at Radio"''Variety'', October 27, 1931, p6"Le Baron's Lyrics"
''Variety'', November 3, 1931, p6 ''Chi Chi and Her Papas'', a 1924 German comedic play originally written by Armin Friedmann and Fritz Lunzer under the title ''Sie und ihr Zimmerherr'', had been translated into English by
Max Steiner
Maximilian Raoul Steiner (May 10, 1888 – December 28, 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and went on to become one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers.
Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted ...
in a single day."A Little from Lots"''The Film Daily'', November 5, 1931, p8"A Little from Lots"
''The Film Daily'', October 28, 1931 Steiner also composed three original songs and the score for the film adaptation, while the movie's producer, William LeBaron, wrote the lyrics.
Humphrey Pearson
Humphrey Pearson (November 30, 1893 – February 24, 1937) was an American screenwriter and playwright of the 1930s. During his brief career, he penned a Broadway play and 22 screenplays. His promising career was cut short when he was found shot ...
was brought in for additional dialogue but eventually re-wrote the entire screenplay. ''Chi Chi and Her Papas'' was to be a starring vehicle for actress Lili Damita
Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937.
Early life and education
Lili Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Car ...
, her third film at RKO. Her leading man was scheduled to be John Warburton, loaned out from Fox Films, with Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952) was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.
Career
Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert attended Cornell Univers ...
as a singing supporting character. Other supporting roles were scheduled for George Frank, Tiny Sandford and Gertrude Astor
Gertrude Astor (born Gertrude Irene Eyster; November 9, 1887 – November 9, 1977) was an American motion picture character actress, who began her career playing trombone in a woman's band.
Early years
Gertrude Irene Eyster was born in Lakew ...
.
Hecht left by plane from New York City to Hollywood on Monday, November 2, his position on the film already confirmed. Once in California, he interviewed 200 girls and 150 men, in order to find the twelve girls and six men necessary for the dance numbers. Hecht hired Frances Grant
Frances Grant (born Stella Theophane Fortier, February 15, 1909 – February 20, 1982) was an American movie actress and dancer. She appeared as the leading lady of Gene Autry in ''Red River Valley'' (1936) and '' Oh, Susanna!'' (1936) and othe ...
, fresh from assisting Larry Ceballos at Fanchon and Marco, to help him with the new routines on ''Chi Chi and Her Papas''. But a week after Hecht's arrival, the film was put on hold. Earlier that fall, RKO had acquired the Pathé Exchange
Pathé Exchange, commonly known as Pathé, was an American film production and distribution company, largely of Hollywood's silent era. Known for its groundbreaking newsreel and wide array of shorts, it grew out of the American division of the m ...
film studio and a number of issues had come of it."Hiram Brown, Pretty Score, Thinks He'll Fix Up Studio Miss in Hurry, As Hollywood Rival bosses Clash"''Variety'', November 17, 1931, 2/26 New studio head, David O. Selznick clashed with equally positioned Charles Rogers and similar arguments went on between producer William LeBaron and former vice-President Joseph I. Schnitzer. Not only were crew positions scheduled to be cut (as the two studios merged into a single location), but some of the pictures too were cancelled. As part of the agreement, all 20 Pathé pictures in production at the time of the acquisition were to be made at RKO's studio. However, the 16 films on RKO's production schedule were not given the same security and for a variety of reasons, ''Chi Chi and Her Papas'' was one of the few to get shut down. LeBaron had already spent $100,000 within the four weeks of pre-production but neither Selznick nor Schnitzer liked the idea of the film and felt it was too racy and non-conducive to the American taste. A few weeks later Hecht found work in the Los Angeles theater business. LeRoy Prinz was producing and directing the Edmunt Joseph and
Nat Perrin
Nat Perrin (March 15, 1905 – May 9, 1998) was an American comedy film, television, and radio screenwriter, producer, and director, who contributed gags and storylines to several Marx Brothers films and co-wrote the script for the film '' Hellz ...
story ''Lucky Day'' with financial backing from Rodney Pantages, Arthur Silber and Harold Morehouse."Amos-Andy Warm?"''Variety'', January 5, 1932, p3 Prinz had clashed with the original choreographer, Billy Grant and Hecht came in to replace him. Other crew members included Earl Dancer staging the choir with music by
Otis René Otis Joseph René Jr. was an American songwriter and record label owner. As a songwriter, he is notable as the co-author of " When It's Sleepy Time Down South", which became a signature song for Louis Armstrong.
Biography
Otis René was born in ...
and Leon René and lyrics by Ben Eilleon. ''Lucky Day'' opened at the Mayan Theater in L.A. on December 27 starring Alex Lovejoy, Eddie Anderson, Alma Travers, LeRoy Broomfield and Aurora Greeley. The play was relatively successful, gaining interest from RKO as a potential property.
Contract choreographer at Paramount
In mid-March 1932 Hecht signed a one-year agreement and became a contract choreographer and dance director for Paramount Pictures. Stories exist that it was his friendBusby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley (born Berkeley William Enos; November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berke ...
who helped him get in touch with the right people at Paramount, where the two are said to have worked on films together."Harold Hecht, Film Producer and a Burt Lancaster Partner"''The New York Times'', May 28, 1985 Hecht's first assignment at Paramount was directing two dance ensembles in the Marx Brothers' college football
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
''Horse Feathers
''Horse Feathers'' is a 1932 pre-Code comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. It stars the Four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo), Thelma Todd and David Landau. It was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S. J. Perelman, an ...
''. One of the numbers Hecht directed was ''I'm Against It'', a scene where Groucho Marx, playing Quincy Adams Wagstaff, is first installed as the new headmaster of Huxley College. Hecht trained Groucho alongside twenty elder actors, aged 61 to 77 years old, with naturally grown beards and dressed in academic gowns. Considering that his first known assignment at Paramount Pictures was a Marx Brothers film, it is quite possible that Hecht found his way to that studio through Nat Perrin, whom he had just worked with on ''Lucky Day'' and was Groucho's close friend and collaborator. Hecht was reported to have worked on additional Marx Brothers films, though no specific titles have surfaced to confirm this (i.e.: "Hecht worked on Marx Brothers films", in plural form). If he did work on additional Marx Brothers films, the only plausible ones that were made during the remainder of his first venture in Hollywood were '' Duck Soup'' at Paramount in 1933 and '' A Night at the Opera'' at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
in 1935. The exact shooting dates for ''Duck Soup'' have not been established, but it is known to have been filmed during the summer of 1933, after Hecht's contract at Paramount had expired. It is always possible that the studio reached out to Hecht, though no screen credits were provided for the dance numbers (no screen credits were provided for ''Horse Feathers'' either). As for ''A Night at the Opera'', it was filmed at M-G-M Studio in the summer of 1935, during a time when Hecht was associated with the studio. However, the film gives screen credits to Chester Hale for the choreography. Whether Hale worked alone or if Hecht had any input in the film is unknown.
Following ''Horse Feathers'', Hecht worked on ''Lady and Gent
''Lady and Gent'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Stephen Roberts for Paramount, featuring a young Charles ("Durango Kid") Starrett, Syd ("Three Mesquiteers") Saylor and an early supporting role by John Wayne.
Plot
A young b ...
'' (at the time known under the title ''The Challenge''), directed by Stephen Roberts and starring George Bancroft
George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...
and Wynne Gibson
Winifred Elaine "Wynne" Gibson (July 3, 1898 – May 15, 1987) was an American actress of the 1930s.
Early years
Gibson was born in New York City, the daughter of Frank W. Gibson and Elaine Coffin Gibson. Her father was an efficiency expert, and ...
, and '' Devil and the Deep'', directed by Marion Gering
Marion Gering (June 9, 1901 in Rostov-on-Don – April 19, 1977 in New York City) was a Russian-born American stage producer and director. He moved to the United States in 1923 as an artist. He became involved in the theatrical community in Chicag ...
and starring Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...
, Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton and Cary Grant. In June and July 1932, Hecht was loaned out from Paramount to M-G-M for the Marion Davies film '' Blondie of the Follies'' (then known under the title ''Good Time Girl''). The film was produced by Davies who sought out Hecht herself and was directed by Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film '' Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwi ...
, who would later reunite with Hecht. The film also starred Robert Montgomery, Billie Dove
Lillian Bohny (born Bertha Eugenie Bohny; May 14, 1903 – December 31, 1997), known professionally as Billie Dove, was an American actress.
Early life and career
Dove was born Bertha Eugenie Bohny in New York City in 1903 to Charles and Ber ...
and Jimmy Durante.
Immediately after ''Lucky Day'', Hecht started working on the play ''Hullabaloo'', which took several months of preparation. Hecht co-directed it with Paul Gerard Smith and choreographed the Gilmor Brown production. The production featured music by Ralph Rainger
Ralph Rainger ( Reichenthal; October 7, 1901 – October 23, 1942) was an American composer of popular music principally for films.
Biography
Born Ralph Reichenthal in New York City, United States, Rainger initially embarked on a legal career, ...
and lyrics by Don Hartman."Hullabaloo"''Variety'', June 21, 1932, p50 ''Hullabaloo'' opened on May 26 at the
Pasadena Community Playhouse
The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...
and ran until June 19, with a cast featuring Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in '' Dumbo'', A ...
, Frank Atkinson, Leonard Sillman and his sister June Carroll.
In the fall of 1932, Hecht worked on another theater play, a revised and modernized version of Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe'').
Life a ...
's operetta, '' The Merry Widow''. The play was brought up to date by J. Keirn Brennan J. Keirn Brennan (November 24, 1873 – February 4, 1948) was an American songwriter. He joined ASCAP as a charter member in 1914 and collaborated with many notable songwriters. He is probably best known for co-writing the 1929 in film, 1929 film '' ...
with dance numbers by Hecht and vocal numbers by H. L. Heidecker."Plenty Doing Up North In All Branches of Amusement"''Hollywood Filmograph'', November 19, 1932, p10 Karl Hajos composed and conducted the 30-piece orchestra and the cast included Herbert Evans, Ruth Gillette, Alex Callam, Florinne McKinney, Franklin Record, Roland Woodruff, Diane Warfield, Paul Sauter, Rolloe Dix, William Jeffries, Harold Reeves and Evelyn Cunningham. The play opened on Monday November 14 at the Columbia Theater in California. In late November 1932 Hecht became involved in a series of Mae West projects, which all eventually culminated into a single picture.Studio Placements
''Variety'', November 29, 1932, p12"A Little from Lots"
''The Film Daily'', December 2, 1932, p10 Earlier that year Paramount had signed Mae West to a contract and the actress was eager to step up from the lower-billed role she received in her first picture, '' Night After Night''. She was billed fourth, after George Raft,
Constance Cummings
Constance Cummings CBE (May 15, 1910 – November 23, 2005) was an American-British actress with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life
Cummings was born in Seattle, Washington, the only daughter and younger child of Kate Logan (née C ...
and Wynne Gibson. West was working to adapt her notoriously banned play, '' Diamond Lil'', into a film, initially titled ''Honky Tonk''."Hollywood"''Variety'', November 8, 1933, p6 But the censors objected and Paramount worked quickly to change a few scenes, re-title the film to ''Diamond Lil'' and tried again to get it into production. The censors objected again, Paramount went back to work and, hoping to fool the censors into thinking they were submitting an all-new film, re-titled the project ''Ruby Red''. But the censors found far too many similarities between ''Ruby Red'' and ''Diamond Lil'' and blocked the production completely. West and Paramount decided to merge ''Ruby Red'' into another West film in the writing stages, '' She Done Him Wrong'', using the cast and crew already hired for ''Ruby Red''. This final version of the script made it into production. Producer LeBaron, who had left RKO to work for Paramount, hired Hecht to work on ''She Done Him Wrong'' back when it was still a separate entity from ''Ruby Red''. Hecht was also hired for dance routines on ''Ruby Red''. Ultimately, all of Hecht's material was merged into a single film and used on ''She Done Him Wrong''. The film was directed by Lowell Sherman and starred West, Cary Grant,
Owen Moore
Owen Moore (12 December 1886 – 9 June 1939) was an Irish-born American actor, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937.
Early life and career
Moore was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. Along with his ...
and Noah Beery
Noah Nicholas Beery (January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946) was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominen ...
. Hecht was interviewed by Motion Picture Magazine
''Motion Picture'' was an American monthly fan magazine about film, published from 1911 to 1977.Fuller, Kathryn H. “Motion Picture Story Magazine and the Gendered Construction of the Movie Fan.” ''At the Picture Show: Small-Town Audiences a ...
in 1933, in response to Mae West's media comments regarding "curvy women being the new trend", to which he answered in her favor; "Dangerous curves are not only ahead, but actually with us. Present-day chorus girls must be slightly more round and more curved than those of a few years ago. Girls with thin, boyish figures definitely are out."
Following the Mae West projects, Hecht became one of the more prominent choreographers in Hollywood and was well-in-demand at Paramount and other studios. In January 1933, Paramount scheduled Hecht for three of their upcoming features: ''A Bedtime Story
''A Bedtime Story'' is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic comedy film starring Maurice Chevalier.
Plot
Chevalier plays a Parisian playboy who finds himself obliged to care for an abandoned baby. The film was directed by Norman Taurog and also st ...
'' (at the time known under the title ''The Way to Love''), directed by Norman Taurog
Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Skippy'' (1931). He i ...
and starring Maurice Chevalier and Helen Twelvetrees, '' International House'', directed by A. Edward Sutherland starring W. C. Fields, Bela Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
and George Burns
George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
and the highly anticipated blockbuster '' College Humor''. ''College Humor'', another William LeBaron production, was proclaimed by Paramount's publicity department as "the most lavish musical picture since the advent of talking pictures". The film was directed by Wesley Ruggles
Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director.
Life and work
He was born in Los Angeles, California, younger brother of actor Charlie Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a do ...
and starred Bing Crosby, Richard Arlen
Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television.
Biography
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...
, Mary Carlisle
Mary Carlisle (born Gwendolyn Witter; February 3, 1914 – August 1, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, best known for her roles as a wholesome ingénue in numerous 1930s musical-comedy films.
She starred in more than 60 Holly ...
, Jack Oakie
Jack Oakie (born Lewis Delaney Offield; November 12, 1903 – January 23, 1978) was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television. He portrayed Napaloni in Chaplin's ''The Great Dictator'' (194 ...
, George Burns and Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ...
. In addition to working with the main stars, Hecht trained The Ox-Road Co-Eds, a group of sixty chorines, for several original music sequences. He teamed up with Jack Oakie and Boris Petroff to create a new dance, the ''Fraternity Stomp'', which Oakie and Lorna Andre performed in the film. The new dance was well advertised in newspapers and magazines with a depiction of steps and moves for people to learn it at home.
Hecht later stated that he worked with director Frank Tuttle during his days at Paramount. Though no evidence has been found, it is likely that the film he was referring to was '' The Big Broadcast'', starring Bing Crosby, Stuart Erwin, Leila Hyams
Leila Hyams (May 1, 1905 – December 4, 1977) was an American film and stage actress, model, and vaudevillian, who came from a show business family. Her relatively short film career began in 1924 during the era of silent films and ended in 19 ...
and George Burns. ''The Big Broadcast'' was produced by Benjamin Glazer
Benjamin Glazer (May 7, 1887 – March 18, 1956) was a screenwriter, producer, foley artist, and director of American films from the 1920s through the 1950s. He made the first translation of Ferenc Molnár's play ''Liliom'' into English in 1921 ...
, who had written ''A Bedtime Story'', and featured music by Ralph Rainger, who had also worked on ''A Bedtime Story'' and ''International House'', as well as Hecht's play, ''Hullaballoo''.
Loan-outs to RKO
Shortly before Hecht's Paramount contract expired, producer Lou Brock at RKO borrowed him to direct the dance numbers on the musical ''Melody Cruise
''Melody Cruise'' is Slipping Stitches' first full-length release. Michael Monroe of Hanoi Rocks fame appears on the bonus tracks as producer, lyricist, and vocalist.
Track listing
Personnel
Band
* Cashmire Starz – vocals, guitar, keyboard ...
'' (at the time know under the title ''Maiden Cruise'')."Hecht Staging Dances"''Variety'', February 28, 1933, p10 Hecht put together a number that included a line of 36 girls for the Mark Sandrich film starring
Charlie Ruggles
Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...
and Phil Harris
Wonga Philip Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an American actor, comedian, musician and songwriter. He was an orchestra leader and a pioneer in radio situation comedy, first with ''The Jack Benny Program'', then in '' The Phil Harr ...
. However, after two weeks of working on ''Maiden Cruise'', Paramount recalled him claiming the RKO production had been delayed and that Hecht's work on Paramount's own ''International House'' was a priority."Para. Recalls Hecht"''The Hollywood Reporter'', March 14, 1933, p7 Dave Gould took over Hecht's work on the RKO film and received screen credits for the dance routines. Once Hecht was free from his Paramount contract in April 1933, RKO hired him again, this time to direct the dance numbers on '' Bed of Roses'', a film directed by
Gregory La Cava
Gregory La Cava (March 10, 1892 – March 1, 1952) was an American film director of Italian descent best known for his films of the 1930s, including ''My Man Godfrey'' and ''Stage Door'', which earned him nominations for Academy Award for Best ...
starring Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...
, Pert Kelton and John Halliday. For this picture, Hecht trained two hundred girls for the dances and selected the best nine to appear in the film. One number in particular, which took place at the Mardi Gras carnival in the film, was taken on the road to help promote the picture, with the girls performing it on stage.
Meanwhile, Hecht put on a new play for the "Symphonies Under the Stars", a week-long festival beginning on July 25. ''Skyscrapers'' opened on Saturday July 29 at the Hollywood Bowl to a cast of over one hundred dancers. Hecht directed the play and choreographed the dances to music originally composed by John Alden Carpenter
John Alden Carpenter (February 28, 1876 – April 26, 1951) was an American composer. Carpenter's compositional style was considered to be mainly "mildly modernistic and impressionistic"; many of his works strive to encompass the spirit of America ...
. Hecht refashioned the work into an eight scene ballet with the help of Blanding Sloane, who worked on the sets, lights and made the masks, and Kay Otteson who designed the costumes. Richard Lert, husband of Vicki Baum
Hedwig "Vicki" Baum (; he, ויקי באום; January 24, 1888 – August 29, 1960) was an Austrian writer. She is known for the novel ''Menschen im Hotel'' ("People at a Hotel", 1929 — published in English as '' Grand Hotel''), one of h ...
, conducted the orchestra.
Freelancing at Warner Brothers, Fox and Universal
In October 1933, Hecht was offered opportunities to direct dance numbers atWarner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
, Fox Films and Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
within a short period of time."Contracts"''Variety'', October 31, 1933, p29"Hecht's Fox Switch"
''Variety'', October 31, 1933, p2"A Little from Lots"
''The Film Daily'', October 24, 1933, p6 Hecht first went to Warner Bros. to choreograph a
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
two-reeler short, produced by Gordon Hollingshead. ''Morocco Nights'' was directed by Edward Cline and starred Fuzzy Knight
John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...
, Shirley Ross
Shirley Ross (born Bernice Maude Gaunt, January 7, 1913 – March 9, 1975) was an American actress and singer, notable for her duet with Bob Hope, " Thanks for the Memory" from ''The Big Broadcast of 1938''. She appeared in 25 feature films be ...
and future Hecht client Francis McDonald
Francis McDonald (August 22, 1891 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor whose career spanned 52 years.
Early years
Born on August 22, 1891, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, McDonald was the son of John Francis McDonald and Catherine Ashlu ...
. ''Morocco Nights'' was initially to be included in Warner's '' Broadway Brevities'' but was never added.
Scheduled to make an undisclosed Columbia film in 1934 (it has not been established if this plan was fulfilled), Hecht made plans to work at Universal in October 1933 with Stanley Bergerman on '' I Like It That Way''. The film was directed by Harry Lachman and starred Gloria Stuart
Gloria Frances Stuart (born Gloria Stewart; July 4, 1910 September 26, 2010) was an American actress, visual artist, and activist. She was known for her roles in Pre-Code films, and garnered renewed fame late in life for her portrayal of Rose ...
and Roger Pryor
Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was a Virginian newspaper editor and politician who became known for his fiery oratory in favor of secession; he was elected both to national and Confederate office, and served as a gen ...
. But shortly before starting production on ''I Like It That Way'' in November, Hecht instead opted to go to work on Buddy DeSylva
George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Recor ...
's film '' Bottoms Up'' at Fox. The large production was directed by David Butler and starred Spencer Tracy and Pat Paterson with music and lyrics by Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo ...
."Bottoms Up Produced by B.G. DeSylva Is Credit to Fox Films Standard-David Butler's Direction Excellent"''Hollywood Filmograph'', March 3, 1934, p3 Hecht's numbers in the picture were lauded by critics. In January 1934, Hecht was approached by Universal again, this time for '' Glamour'' a film produced by B. F. Zeidman, directed by William Wyler and starring Constance Cummings and Paul Lukas. In May he was approached by Stanley Bergerman for another Roger Pryor film, ''
Romance in the Rain
''Romance in the Rain'' is a 2001 Chinese television period drama jointly produced by Yi Ren Communications Company (怡人傳播有限公司) in Taiwan and China International Television Corporation (中国国际电视总公司) in mainland China ...
''. This time Hecht provided the dances in the film directed by Stuart Walker.
Film directing at M-G-M
Hecht is said to have worked on the Edmond Goulding film '' Hollywood Party'' (at the time known under the title ''Star Spangled Banquet'') at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in March 1934, though no official credit has surfaced to confirm this. In the fall of 1934 Hecht started working on a series of shorts, which he was to direct, under the title ''Goonies''."Plans New Shorts Series"''Motion Picture Daily'', December 26, 1934, p7 The shorts were to be based on errors made by college students in filing out official forms, hence making them "goonies". Hecht's new production unit, formed for the purpose of making these shorts in December 1934, was called Goonies Inc. However, the ''Goonies'' shorts were never produced, for reasons unknown. In January 1935, Hecht and his friend Josef Berne were given the go ahead to direct their own Technicolor (using the three-strip process) short at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The color process was still considered a novelty at the time, making this deal, for a new director, quite a generous one."Little from Lots"
''The Film Daily'', January 22, 1935, p3 ''Gypsy Night'' (known under the working title ''Song of the Gypsies'') was produced by
Harry Rapf
Harry Rapf (16 October 1880, in New York City – 6 February 1949, in Los Angeles), was an American film producer.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family, Rapf began his career in 1917, and during a 20-year career became a well-known producer of ...
from a story by Richard Goldstone. The short was filmed throughout March and April. Through cinematography and lighting Hecht and Berne "emphasized on particular colors which most effectively carried out the moods of the music in each scene", a concept that Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
somewhat recreated half a decade later in '' Fantasia''.
The short was a based on a romantic perspective of the Russian Gypsies' lives, with dance numbers by Hecht and music by Burton Lane and Harold Adamson
Harold Campbell Adamson (December 10, 1906 – August 17, 1980) was an American lyricist during the 1930s and 1940s.
Early life
Adamson, the son of building contractor Harold Adamson and Marion "Minnie" Campbell Adamson, was born and raised in ...
. The cast featured Mary Jo Mathews, Perry Askam, Joseph Mario and Ilia Khmara. ''Gypsy Night'' opened on Friday, May 24, 1935, at the Capitol Theater in New York City. It was considered avant-garde by some but received generally praising reviews towards its artistic aspect.
Hecht later claimed that his initial departure from Hollywood was caused by lack of work in the fast-paced, constantly evolving musical pictures business. His style of dances were refreshing when he arrived in 1931. But by 1935 they had been adapted and used by other choreographers and had been well-used at all the major studios.
Return to New York and Broadway plays
In November 1935, exactly four years after leaving, Hecht returned to New York City and took employment at the Summer Hotel. He was then hired by the Theatre Guild and positioned as assistant director and assistant stage manager for the Leonard Lawrence Atlas play ''But for the Grace of God'' in 1936. The play was produced by Sidney Harmon and directed by Benno Schneider."But for the Grace of God"Internet Broadway Database Hecht was not the original stage manager of the play and only came in through Schneider's insistence."Testimony of Leopold Lawrence Atlas"
'' Hearings'', March 12, 1953 ''But for the Grace of God'' opened on January 12, 1937, and ran for forty-two performances. It was during this time that Hecht became a member of the Communist Party, subscribing to the '' Daily Worker'' and attending select meetings at the New York City Communist Party headquarters on 4th Avenue and the Workers Alliance of America. He also studied five hours a week, taking classes like labor studies, political economy, current events and the rise of
Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
and Leninism. Even though he had a general interest in the party, he was apparently never a devoted Communist and did not seek higher placement or positions.
In 1937 he became employed at the Federal Theatre Project and was put in charge of producing the musical revue ''Sing for Your Supper''. It took Hecht two years to get the play together, compiling songs, lyrics, sketches, seeking out writers and hiring the cast, designing costumes, choreographing dances and other aspects of the production. ''Sing for Your Supper'' featured an elaborate cast of different ethnicity, nationalities, religious and political beliefs and Hecht showed no discrimination when hiring actors or crew members. During one of the rehearsals, on May 30, 1938, one of the African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
cast members approached one of the leading ladies of the play, Viennese actress Sally Saunders, for a date. The actress was so insulted that she rushed to Hecht, asking for the man to be fired. Hecht gloriously championed the rights of blacks by responding to her "Sally, I'm surprised at you. He has just as much right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness as you and I have".''The Ogden Standard Examiner'', August 20 1938, p2/ref> Saunders was horrified by Hecht's approval of racial equality and in August of that same year testified against him, the Federal Theater, the Workers Alliance of America and entire production of ''Sing for Your Supper'' at an anti-communist hearing in Washington, D.C. ''Sing for Your Supper'' eventually opened on either March 15 or April 24 (the date is debated) 1939 at the Adelphi Theatre."Sing for Your Supper"
Internet Broadway Database It was reasonably successful, running forty-four performances and closing on June 30. Feeling that his employment at the Federal Theatre would not be renewed after the play, Hecht left New York in either July or August 1939.
Second trip to Hollywood
New career as literary agent
In either July or August 1939 Hecht returned to Hollywood and found it difficult to secure employment. He was then living with writer Roland Kibbee and the two became good friends. Kibbee later collaborated with Hecht and Lancaster as a writer for their production companies, and became an equal partner of Lancaster's post-Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions venture, Norlan Productions. In late 1939, after months of unemployment, Hecht was hired by Nat Goldstone as a talent agent for the Goldstone Agency. The Goldstone Agency initially dealt with actors and Hecht established for them a literary department, first becoming head of the new division and then being promoted to a partner in the company. He worked two years for the Goldstone Agency, eventually handling up to thirty-six writers. Hecht hired one of these writers, George Willner, to be his assistant. Willner later formed his own literary agency.World War II service
Hecht enlisted in theUnited States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...
on August 29, 1942, in support of World War II. His army serial number was 19126700. He was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant and placed in Special Services, the entertainment department. He produced live shows for servicemen with in person appearances by some of the biggest stars of the day: including songwriter Johnny Mercer, vocalist Francis Langford, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and personal friend, actor John Garfield. Hecht was honorably discharged on September 3, 1945.
Formation of the Hecht-Rantz Agency
After his service in World War II, Hecht returned to Hollywood with plans to head his own talent agency. In the fall of 1945 he formed the '' Hecht-Rantz Agency'' with friend and former Goldstone Agency employee, Louis Rantz. Rantz had also worked in Hollywood during the mid-1930s, as an associate producer, mostly with Metropolitan Pictures, George A. Hirliman Productions and B.F. Zeidman Productions. Hecht and Rantz set up their office at 324 South Beverly Drive,Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
, California."Edith Barrett Listing"''Film Daily Year Book'', 1947, p491 During a show-going holiday in New York City in late November 1945, Lillian Schary, Dore Schary's sister, suggested to Hecht that he go see a new Broadway play at the Lyceum Theater. '' A Sound of Hunting'', which had opened off-Broadway a couple of weeks earlier, was showcasing a brand new actor, Burt Lancaster. Hecht was immediately impressed with Lancaster's performance. He later said of that night "When I saw Burt Lancaster in ''A Sound of Hunting'' on Broadway (in 1945), I knew he had it. I don't know how you could miss it. He was so dominating, so much larger than life". Hecht attended the play many more times before it closed after twenty-three performances on December 8. When nearly all the major Hollywood studios starting coming at Lancaster with offers, his friend and co-star in the play,
Sam Levene
Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was a Russian Empire-born American Broadway, film, radio, and television actor and director. In a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in over 50 comedy and dr ...
, an established stage and film actor, offered to represent him.''The Tennessean'', May 22 1955, p63/ref> Together they were invited to restaurants, hearing offers from David O. Selznick, 20th Century-Fox and
Hal B. Wallis
Harold Brent Wallis (born Aaron Blum Wolowicz; October 19, 1898 – October 5, 1986) was an American film producer. He is best known for producing '' Casablanca'' (1942), '' The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), and ''True Grit'' (1969), along ...
, who had a deal at Paramount Pictures.''Burt Lancaster – An American Life''Kate Buford, Da Capo Publishing, 2000 Stories are told about the time Hecht was introduced to Lancaster on the last night of the play. The actor said he'd been courted by the big agencies. Hecht told him, "If you sign with a big agency, you'll be assigned to a junior agent who gets a salary, and has two dozen unknowns to find work for." Hecht opted for honesty. "I know everybody, but I have only a few clients. If you signed with me, you'd be at the top of my list and I have to eat so I'd have to keep you working". Lancaster signed with Hecht and they went out to celebrate at a restaurant. There Hecht said, "You know, I really don't like being an agent. I want to produce pictures". Lancaster replied that he wanted the same, which led to Hecht's famous retort, "Come with me and in five years maybe we can make it". The actual time was 19 months. Through Hecht's negotiations, Lancaster signed a seven-year contract, the longest term a studio was legally allowed to keep an actor under contract at the time, with Hal B. Wallis' Paramount-financed, independent production company, Hal Wallis Productions. The exclusive contract gave Lancaster an option for one outside, independent picture a year, giving the agent/actor room to produce a yearly film, thought they initially never believed the clause would be used.''Arizona Republic'', June 24 1956, p42
/ref> A few months later, in April 1946, Hecht and Lancaster were sitting in the bar of the Barbizon-Plaza Hotel in New York City, having a last drink before Lancaster was off for the filming of ''
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
'' for Mark Hellinger Productions. Lancaster was worried about the kind of movies he'd be getting in Hollywood when Hecht jokingly told him "Well Burt, if you don't like what you get into out there, we'll just produce our own films. That's the one way you're sure to get what you want!". Throughout the 1940s, every actor, producer and director wanted to start their own production company but few were able to accomplish it due to contractual obligations. The few that did manage to venture into productions of their own, most often did not last long enough to make an impact and rarely made more than a handful of movies.
Rantz and Hecht also managed actresses Edith Barrett
Edith Barrett (born Edith Barrett Williams; January 19, 1907 – February 22, 1977) was an American actress. She was a romantic star on Broadway and in the Little Theatre Movement in New England summer stock from the mid-1920s to the late 1930s ...
, Frances Rafferty
Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...
and Karen Morley
Karen Morley (born Mildred Linton; December 12, 1909 – March 8, 2003) was an American film actress.
Life and career
Born Mildred Linton in Ottumwa, Iowa, Morley lived there until she was 13 years old. When she moved to Hollywood, she attend ...
and actors Roman Bohnen
Roman Aloys Bohnen (November 24, 1901 – February 24, 1949) was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939), '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), and ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (194 ...
and Phil Brown in 1945 and 1946. In 1946 the company dissolved and Rantz formed the Louis Rantz Agency.
Prosperity in Hollywood
Harold Hecht Productions
In 1946 Hecht formed his own company, Harold Hecht Productions, and set up his new office at 8747 Sunset Boulevard West in Hollywood. The new name reflected what he and Lancaster hoped to accomplish; producing movies. However, Harold Hecht Productions also had an agency division and he retained many of the actors and writers already under contract with the Hecht-Rantz Agency. Hecht also signed new talents such as actors Art Smith and Francis McDonald and writersWalter Bernstein
Walter Bernstein (August 20, 1919 – January 23, 2021) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s because of his views on communism. Some of his notable works included ''The ...
, Roland Kibbee and Meta Rosenberg
Meta Rosenberg (5 June 1915 – 30 December 2004), born Meta Arenson, was an American television producer and talent agent, who was also executive producer of the television series ''The Rockford Files''.
Early life
Born in San Francisco and ra ...
.''Making of the Magnificent Seven''Brian Hannan, p247 During this time Hecht became an officer at Irving Mills'
music publishing
A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...
company, Mills Music Inc., though little is known of his work there. By 1947, Harold Hecht Productions was doing very well as a talent agency and Hecht started hiring staff from other noted Hollywood agencies. In May 1947, E. Henry Lewis left the Goldstone Agency to head Harold Hecht Productions' literary staff.
Norma Productions and Halburt Productions
In the summer of 1947 Hecht co-founded Norma Productions with Burt Lancaster, who named the company after his second wife, Norma Anderson. They worked out a deal with Universal-International
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
, for whom Lancaster had already done ''The Killers'' and '' Brute Force'', both for Mark Hellinger Productions. Hecht and Lancaster's first production was ''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'' is a 1948 American noir-thriller film directed by Norman Foster. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Gerald Butler, it stars Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster and Robert Newton. The film faced minor ...
'', a film noir based on British author Gerald Butler's best-selling novel. The movie starred Lancaster, Joan Fontaine
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was a British-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". Fontaine appeared ...
and Robert Newton
Robert Guy Newton (1 June 1905 – 25 March 1956) was an English actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the more popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys. Known for h ...
and was directed by Norman Foster
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Nor ...
, famous for the Mr. Moto
Mr. Moto is a fictional Japanese secret agent created by the American author John P. Marquand. He appeared in six novels by Marquand published between 1935 and 1957. Marquand initially created the character for the ''Saturday Evening Post'', whi ...
crime series starring Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
, with a soundtrack by Miklós Rózsa
Miklós Rózsa (; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensi ...
, a noted film noir composer. ''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'', a co-production through Norma Productions and Harold Hecht Productions, was released in late 1948 to moderate success. Following this, Hecht worked exclusively through Norma Productions for the next ten years.
In early 1949 Norma Productions made a three-picture deal with Warner Brothers Pictures
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, all to be produced by Hecht and to star Lancaster. The inaugural picture was ''The Flame and the Arrow
''The Flame and the Arrow'' is a 1950 American Technicolor swashbuckler film made by Warner Bros. and starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo and Nick Cravat. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Harold Hecht and Frank Ross from ...
'', a Technicolor swashbuckler
A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, ...
directed by Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur (; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French film director known for the classic film noir ''Out of the Past'' and a series of low-budget horror films he made for RKO Studios, including ''Cat People (1942 film), Cat ...
. The big-budget film featured some of the biggest names from the Warner Brothers lot at the time, including Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...
(fresh from '' White Heat'') as the leading lady and Max Steiner (famous for '' Casablanca'' and ''Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind may also refer to:
Music
* ''Gone with the Wind'' ...
'') who was hired to compose the soundtrack. ''The Flame and the Arrow'' was released in the summer of 1950 and became one of the year's top grossers, earning two nominations at the 23rd Academy Awards
The 23rd Academy Awards were held on March 29, 1951, honoring the films of 1950. ''All About Eve'' received a record 14 nominations, besting the previous record of 13 set by ''Gone with the Wind'' in 1939. It won six Oscars, including Best Pic ...
ceremony in March 1951; one for Best Dramatic or Comedy Score (Max Steiner), another for Best Color Cinematography ( Ernest Haller).
Hecht's next production for Warner Brothers was '' The Crimson Pirate'', another Technicolor swashbuckler starring Lancaster and Nick Cravat
Nicholas Cuccia (pronounced ''coo-cha''; January 10, 1912 – January 29, 1994), better known by his stage name Nick Cravat, was an American actor and stunt performer.
Early life
Nicholas Cuccia was born in Manhattan, New York City. His real ...
, a close friend since boyhood, and former acrobat
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...
who had worked with Lancaster in the circus (he had also co-starred in ''The Flame and the Arrow''). It was directed by Robert Siodmak
Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (194 ...
, written by Roland Kibbee and featured an early appearance by Christopher Lee. ''The Crimson Pirate'' was made entirely in remote locations, with filming in Ischia
Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...
, an island off the Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples (), also called the Bay of Naples, is a roughly 15-kilometer-wide (9.3 mi) gulf located along the south-western coast of Italy (province of Naples, Campania region). It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It i ...
, Italy and at Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also prov ...
in England. Released in the fall of 1952, it also went on to be a top-grosser for Warner Brothers. Years later Hecht attempted to develop a sequel, ''Jolly Roger: Son of the Crimson Pirate'', but this film was never made.
Before completing their contract at Warner Brothers, Hecht and Lancaster signed a two-picture deal with Columbia Pictures through the Norma Productions subsidiary, Halburt Productions. The two moderate-budget Columbia films were shot back-to-back at Columbia Studios and marked the beginning of a professional relationship between Hecht, Lancaster and Robert Aldrich, who was Hecht's assistant producer at the studio. Halburt Productions' first film, ''Ten Tall Men
''Ten Tall Men'' is a 1951 American adventure film starring Burt Lancaster about the French Foreign Legion during the Rif War in Morocco. Though co-written and directed by Willis Goldbeck, Goldbeck walked off the film due to disputes with Lancaste ...
'' (released in late 1951) was another Technicolor adventure flick about the French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
during the Rif War
The Rif War () was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by France in 1924) and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco.
Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at first inflicted several de ...
in Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
. It was written and directed by Willis Goldbeck, co-written by Roland Kibbee and starred Lancaster, Jody Lawrance and Gilbert Roland
Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice no ...
. It also featured memorable parts by character actors George Tobias
George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner K ...
, Nick Dennis
Nick Dennis (April 26, 1904 – November 14, 1980) was a Greek American film actor born in Thessaly, Greece.
Biography
The supporting actor, who began in films in 1947, was known for playing ethnic types (usually Greek) in films such as ''Kiss ...
, Mike Mazurki
Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. His 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence and face had him typecast as often brainless athletes ...
and Robert Clary
Robert Clary (born Robert Max Widerman; March 1, 1926 – November 16, 2022) was a French actor mainly active in the United States. He is best known for his role in the television sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'' as Corporal Louis LeBeau (1965–197 ...
. But the real turning point was when Columbia allowed Hecht and Lancaster to produce their first film without Lancaster acting in it. '' The First Time'' (released in early 1952) was a comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin starring Robert Cummings
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as '' The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in ...
and Barbara Hale
Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017) was an American actress who portrayed legal secretary Della Street in the dramatic television series '' Perry Mason'' (1957–1966), earning her a 1959 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting A ...
, based on a short story by Hugo Butler
Hugo Dansey Butler (4 May 1914 – 7 January 1968) was a Canadian-born screenwriter working in Hollywood who was blacklisted by the film studios in the 1950s.
Biography
Born on 4 May 1914 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, his father, Frank Russel ...
and Jean Rouverol
Jean Rouverol (July 8, 1916 – March 24, 2017) was an American author, actress and screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s.
Life and career
Rouverol was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of pl ...
as first-time parents.
Hecht's final Warner Brothers commitment was '' His Majesty O'Keefe'', filmed in mid-1952 but only released in early 1954. ''His Majesty O'Keefe'' was granted another large budget for remote location shooting in Technicolor. This time the crew headed to Viti Levu
Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.
Geology
Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian ...
in the Republic of Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, where production costs skyrocketed. The film was directed by Byron Haskin
Byron Conrad Haskin (April 22, 1899 – April 16, 1984) was an American film and television director, special effects creator and cinematographer. He is best known for directing '' The War of the Worlds'' (1953), one of many films where he ...
and starred Lancaster, Joan Rice and André Morell
Cecil André Mesritz (20 August 1909 – 28 November 1978), known professionally as André Morell, was an English actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s. His best known screen roles were as ...
. It was scored by Dimitri Tiomkin
Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (, ; May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in St. Petersburg, Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York City ...
and was the first time that Hecht and Lancaster collaborated with writer James Hill who later became a partner in the company. In December 1952 Hecht joined the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
House Un-American Activities Committee testimony
Harold Hecht's name was given to the House Un-American Activities Committee by Martin Berkeley on September 19, 1951. At the time that Hecht's name was brought up, he was in Italy working on Norma Productions' ''The Crimson Pirate'' for Warner Brothers and a subpoena for his testimony was only procured two years later. On March 23, 1953, Hecht appeared in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, represented by his lawyer Edward Bennett Williams. Many of the writers, actors and directors that Hecht and Lancaster had worked with through Norma Productions and Halburt Productions had been named as known or suspected Communists and the Committee was eager to hear Hecht's side of the story. Hecht cooperated with the Committee on every aspect, feeling no shame about his past and answering all their questions regarding his affiliation with theCommunist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
. Hecht admitted to once being a member of the Communist Party but informed the Committee that he was no longer of that state of mind. Because of his cooperation with the Committee and his testimony of known Communists from his past, Hecht was not blacklisted and was allowed to resume his position as a successful producer in Hollywood.
Hecht-Lancaster Productions
In the summer of 1953 Hecht co-founded another Norma Productions subsidiary, Hecht-Lancaster Productions, with Burt Lancaster and signed a two-picture deal withUnited Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
(the deal would be renegotiated and extended several times over the next few years). Their first production for UA was '' Apache'' (released in the summer of 1954), a western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
told from the perspective of a Native American Apache. It starred Lancaster and Jean Peters
Elizabeth Jean Peters (October 15, 1926 – October 13, 2000) was an American film actress. She is known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and as the second wife of Howard Hughes. Although possibly best remembered f ...
with a feature role by John McIntire and an early appearance by Charles Bronson (credited under his real name, Charles Buchinsky). Robert Aldrich was hired as director and James R. Webb wrote the script from an original novel by Paul Wellman. ''Apache'' was another box office success for the company and despite the controversy that both leading actors had striking blue eyes, the film met with the approval of Native Americans, who were consulted at private screenings prior to the opening dates.
''Apache'' was followed by ''Vera Cruz (film), Vera Cruz'', another western, based on the Mexican Revolution. This was another top-budget Technicolor picture and one of the earliest films to use the widescreen format, using the SuperScope process. Hecht's production company traveled to Mexico and filmed entirely on location, including scenes at the famous Chapultepec Castle. Robert Aldrich and James R. Webb returned as director and writer with Roland Kibbee coming in to help with the script. It starred Lancaster and Gary Cooper with featured roles by Denise Darcel, Sara Montiel, Cesar Romero, George Macready, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson (again credited as Charles Buchinsky), Jack Elam and Jack Lambert (American actor), Jack Lambert. ''Vera Cruz'' became Norma Productions' top grosser and one of UA's best box office success, earning over $11 million and boosting Hecht and Lancaster to the top as Hollywood's most prominent independent producers, a position they would keep for five years. ''Vera Cruz'' was later considered as one of the potential TV shows that Hecht-Lancaster Productions was to produce and they hired a young western TV writer, Sam Peckinpah, to write a teleplay. But the pilot was never produced.
After ''Vera Cruz'', Hecht-Lancaster Productions delivered three more successful box office films financed by UA. One of the best remembered films of the 1950s, ''Marty'' was originally a television episode on The Philco Television Playhouse. The teleplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Delbert Mann. Hecht hired both of them to develop the story into a movie and approached Ernest Borgnine, who had never been given a starring role in a film, to play the lead. Gene Kelly's wife, Betsy Blair, won the role of the love interest, bringing her out of the HUAC blacklist. ''Marty'' was produced as a low-budget film, shot mostly on location in New York City, with a bank roll of a little over $250,000 (with an additional $100,000 for advertising and publicity).
When the film was released in the spring of 1955, and was paired with a major promotional plan, it became another top-grosser. The film won numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture (Harold Hecht), the Academy Award for Best Director (Delbert Mann), the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Ernest Borgnine), the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky), the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress, the Bodil Award for Best American Film, the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival (the first film to technically win the Palme d'Or, as the top prize had recently changed title, and also the first film to win by unanimous votes), the Cannes Film Festival OCIC Award, the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film, Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, the National Board of Review Awards 1955, National Board of Review Award for Best Film, the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor, the National Board of Review Award for Top Ten Films, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, the Academy Award for Best Production Design, Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White and the BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source.
Hecht's Best Picture Oscar statue was presented to him by Audrey Hepburn. His acceptance speech is among the most memorable and most quoted; "It's very fortunate to live in a country where any man, no matter how humble his origins, can become a president, and to be part of an industry where any picture, no matter how low its budget, can win an Oscar. All of us who worked on ''Marty'' are especially fortunate for this great honor, for to us, from the very beginning, it was a labor of love. Thank you". In November 1959 ''Marty'' was the first American film to be screened in the USSR following World War II. It was personally selected by Russian politicians as part of a Soviet-American cultural exchange program, and Hecht was asked by President Eisenhower to travel to Russia for the screening of the film. In 1994 ''Marty'' was selected by the National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.National Film Preservation Board, List of Films/ref> ''Marty'' was also one of the many films considered by Hecht-Lancaster Productions to be made into a television show. An original pilot was made with Shecky Greene in the late 1950s and later (unrelated to Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions) with Tom Bosley. Neither were sold to the networks. Hecht-Lancaster Productions' second film to be released in 1955 was ''The Kentuckian (1955 film), The Kentuckian'', another large-budget adventure film shot in Technicolor using the CinemaScope widescreen technology on location in the Kentucky mountains. the screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author A. B. Guthrie Jr. from Felix Holt's novel ''The Gabriel Horn'' and was Burt Lancaster's official directorial debut. Guthrie had already famously adapted ''Shane (film), Shane'' in 1952 and his novel, ''The Big Sky (film), The Big Sky'', was made into a successful Western by Howard Hawks that same year. Hecht and Lancaster hired famed composer Bernard Herrmann for the soundtrack, already renowned at the time for his work with Orson Welles. Herrmann is now best remembered as a close collaborator of Alfred Hitchcock, composing the soundtracks to ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho'', ''Vertigo (film), Vertigo'' and ''North By Northwest''. In addition to starring Lancaster, ''The Kentuckian'' featured Dianne Foster, Diana Lynn, John McIntire and was the film debut of Walter Matthau, who played the heavy. As part of its publicity, Hecht hired artist Thomas Hart Benton (painter), Thomas Hart Benton to paint a life-sized portrait of Lancaster and Donald MacDonald (in character), posing with their dog Faro. The painting, also known as ''The Kentuckian (painting), The Kentuckian'', has been exhibited at a number of museums over the years and is currently part of Los Angeles County Museum of Art's permanent collection. The film competed at the Venice Film Festival for its top prize, the Golden Lion Award. The last film released under the Hecht-Lancaster Productions banner (prior to changing the company's name) was the massively budgeted circus film ''Trapeze (film), Trapeze''. Also filmed in Technicolor with CinemaScope lenses, the film starred Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Italian sex symbol Gina Lollobrigida. The script went through a number of writers including James Jones (author), James Jones (''From Here to Eternity (novel), From Here to Eternity''), Ernest Lehman, Ben Hecht, James R. Webb, Wolf Mankowitz and Liam O'Brien. ''Trapeze'' was shot in Paris, France with locations such as the indoor arena Cirque d'Hiver, with recently knighted director Carol Reed, Sir Carol Reed. The film is noted for having the largest promotional allowance of the times, with a reported $2 million for publicity. It paid off and was the third best box office earner of the year. Many of its premieres featured local circus performers who were hired to parade through the streets. Though it failed to make an impact at the Academy Awards, it won several awards including the Bambi Award for Best Actress – International, the Berlin International Film Festival#Awards, Berlin International Film Festival Silver Berlin Bear Award for Best Actor, the Berlin International Film Festival Bronze Berlin Bear Award for Audience Poll and a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. On June 12, 1956, Hecht joined the Producers Guild of America, Screen Producers Guild as their 150th member. That year he also returned to Broadway to bring English playwright Terence Rattigan's hit show ''Separate Tables'' to the American stage, with plans to turn it into a film for Hecht-Lancaster Productions. The Broadway production opened on October 25, 1956, and was highly successful, running for 332 performances at the Music Box Theatre and closing on September 28, 1957. The play was directed by Peter Glenville and starred Margaret Leighton, Eric Portman, Donald Harron, Beryl Measor, Phyllis Neilson-Terry, Helena Carroll and May Hallatt. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards at the 11th ceremony in April 1957, winning one for Margaret Leighton as Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, Best Actress. The other nominations included Best Play (The Producers Theatre and Hecht-Lancaster Productions), Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, Best Actor (Eric Portman), Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play, Best Featured Actor (William Podmore), two for Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, Best Featured Actress (Beryl Measor and Phyllis Neilson-Terry) and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play, Best Direction (Peter Glenville).
Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions
In 1956 Burt Lancaster announced that writer James Hill was made an equal partner in the company. The new name officially came into effect at the beginning of 1957, with Hecht-Lancaster Productions being updated to Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions. The first film released under the new name was ''The Bachelor Party'' (released in the spring of 1957), another Paddy Chayefsky dramatic teleplay adapted for the screen with hopes to recreate the success of ''Marty''. Delbert Mann was hired again as director with Alex North composing the soundtrack. The film starred E. G. Marshall, Don Murray (actor), Don Murray and Jack Warden with a notable featured part for actress Carolyn Jones who later portrayed Morticia Addams in the television series ''The Addams Family (1964 TV series), The Addams Family''. Carolyn Jones played the role of a beatnik at a party and made a considerable impact with viewers. ''The Bachelor Party'' won a National Board of Review Awards 1957, National Board of Review Award and was nominated for the Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source and the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (for Carolyn Jones). One of today's best remembered film from Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions is ''Sweet Smell of Success'', released in late 1957. Though it was a flop at the box office when first released, it has since grown to become one of the most iconic films of the 1950s and has been referenced as a major influence for critically acclaimed directors, including Barry Levinson (who made references to it in his films ''Diner (1982 film), Diner'' and ''Rain Man'') and Martin Scorsese. The New York City-based (and filmed) drama represented Hecht and Lancaster's return to the film noir genre since their first picture, ''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands''. It starred Lancaster and Tony Curtis (who also co-produced the film through his production company Curtleigh Productions) from a screenplay by Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets (who was at the time under contract to Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions). Director Alexander Mackendrick was hired with top cinematographer James Wong Howe and composer Elmer Bernstein (fresh from working on Otto Preminger's ''The Man with the Golden Arm'') wrote a memorable soundtrack. The film won the Bambi Award for Best International Actor and was nominated at the British Academy Film Awards for the Best Foreign Actor, the Golden Laurel Award for Top Male Dramatic Performance and the Golden Laurel Award for Top Female Supporting Performance. In 1993 it was selected by the National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. It also appeared on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list and was added to the Online Film & Television Association Hall of Fame. It was also released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection. In 2002 it was made into a Broadway musical by Marvin Hamlisch, Craig Carnelia and John Guare. In early 1958 Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions released ''Run Silent, Run Deep (1958 film), Run Silent, Run Deep'', a black-and-white submarine war film based on the best-selling novel by highly decorated US Navy officer Edward L. Beach Jr. Directed by Robert Wise, it starred Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster with featured roles by Nick Cravat, Jack Warden and Don Rickles (in the comedian's film debut). Always hiring top personnel, the script was written by John Gay (screenwriter), John Gay and the music was composed by Franz Waxman. Cinematographer Russell Harlan was nominated for a Golden Laurel Award for his work on the film. The film version of ''Separate Tables'' (released in late 1958) was another major winner at the awards ceremony. The film was adapted for the screen by Terence Rattigan, John Gay and John Michael Hayes and reunited Delbert Mann for a third turn directing for Hecht. ''Separate Tables'' featured an all-star cast with David Niven, Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, Wendy Hiller, Gladys Cooper and Rod Taylor (several years before his best-remembered role in ''The Birds (film), The Birds''). The film was originally set to be directed by Laurence Olivier, who was to play Lancaster's role, with his wife, Vivien Leigh, in place of Hayworth. This film earned Hecht his second Academy Awards nomination for Best Picture. The film won several awards including the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (David Niven), the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Wendy Hiller, which Hecht accepted in her place as she could not be present), the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress, David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress, the Golden Laurel Award for Top Male Dramatic Performance, the National Board of Review Awards 1958, National Board of Review Award for Top Ten Films, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and the Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the Golden Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance, the Golden Laurel Award for Top Female Supporting Performance, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama. That year producer James Hill and star Rita Hayworth were married. Two limited-budget productions followed ''Separate Tables'': ''The Rabbit Trap'' and ''Cry Tough (film), Cry Tough'', both released in 1959. ''The Rabbit Trap'' was anticipated as another box office winner, as with ''Marty'', based on a teleplay by JP Miller who adapted his story for the film. British film director Philip Leacock was brought over for the Ernest Borgnine starrer, with Don Rickles in a featured role. But the film only made an impact at the Locarno International Film Festival where Borgnine won the award for Best Actor. ''Cry Tough'' was initially set to be a big-budget picture starring Tony Curtis (also to be co-produced by his independent production company), but it eventually starred John Saxon instead. Television director Paul Stanley made his film directorial debut and the movie was topped by one of the first "Jazz Samba" soundtracks, composed by guitarist Laurindo Almeida. One of Hecht's most coveted film rights purchases came when he procured ''The Devil's Disciple (1959 film), The Devil's Disciple'' from Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize-winner George Bernard Shaw's estate. Set in Colonial America, the story tells of the American Revolutionary War. Initially planned for a 1956 production, the film was to star Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Laurence Olivier, with Olivier also directing. But Lancaster decided he didn't want to be directed by another actor. Plans were delayed and Clift's part was recast with Kirk Douglas and Olivier dropped out from directing. Instead, Alexander Mackendrick was hired as director, but he was later fired shortly after filming began. Mackendrick was replaced by future James Bond director Guy Hamilton. The film was partly shot at the famous Ealing Studios in England, from a script by Roland Kibbee and John Dighton. It also earned a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, BAFTA Award nomination for Best British Actor (for Olivier). While ''The Devil's Disciple'' was shooting in England, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions was simultaneously producing ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1959 film), Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'' in Australia. The film was based on Ray Lawler's successful dramatic play about sugarcane cutters in Australia, but was greatly re-written and Americanized by screenwriter John Dighton. It was directed by Leslie Norman (director), Leslie Norman and starred Ernest Borgnine (his final collaboration with Hecht and Lancaster), Anne Baxter, Angela Lansbury and John Mills. The film was released in Australia in late 1959 but was only released in the United States in late 1961, under the title ''Season of Passion''. A long-time supporter of racial equality, Hecht then made ''Take a Giant Step'', a coming-of-age drama film dealing with the realities of racism in American schools. Hecht hired pop singer Johnny Nash (later immortalized by his 1972, No.1 hit single ''I Can See Clearly Now'') to play the lead with Philip Leacock directing. Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions was hoping to make an impact in the film industry, while African American civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. were protesting in the streets with the same message. But the film was plagued by delays and resistance from United Artists who initially refused to finance it (it was advanced in full by Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions from their other films' profits), then refused to release it, and who finally shelved it after a limited distribution. Still, the film won the Silver Sail Award at the Locarno International Film Festival in Italy and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award#Motion picture awards, Golden Globe Award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding and the BAFTA United Nations Award. ''The Unforgiven (1960 film), The Unforgiven'' was the last film shot during Hecht-Hill-Lancaster's status as a working and successful unit and was released in the spring of 1960, by which time the company had dissolved (prior to their limited comeback a year later). The western, filmed using the Panavision Technicolor widescreen lenses on location in Durango, Mexico, dealt with racial intolerance towards Native Americans. The film was filled with star names including director John Huston, former blacklisted writer Ben Maddow (who adapted the screenplay from a novel by Alan Le May), and actors Lancaster, John Saxon, Charles Bickford, Audie Murphy (who replaced Tony Curtis after he dropped out), Albert Salmi and Joseph Wiseman and actresses Audrey Hepburn and Lillian Gish. Production was delayed for months when Hepburn fell off a horse and injured her back.Music industry venture
In July 1956, Hecht, his brother-in-law Loring Buzzell (brother of Hecht's first wife Gloria) and Lancaster formed two music publishing firms; Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music (copyrighting exclusively through ASCAP) and Calyork Music (copyrighting exclusively through Broadcast Music, Inc., BMI). The purpose of the new venture (a subsidiary of the Hecht and Lancaster Companies/Norma Productions) was to publish and copyright songs from their films' soundtracks and license them to record labels for release in the booming business of vinyls for the home market. The compositions published through Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music and Calyork Music have been released through Columbia Records, Warner Bros. Records, MGM Records, ABC Records, ABC-Paramount Records, Capitol Records, London Records, United Artists Records, Decca Records, Mercury Records, RCA Records, RCA Victor Records, Jubilee Records, Coral Records, Top Rank Records, Date Records, Kapp Records, Apollo Records (1944), Apollo Records, Maine Records and Cabot Records. Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music and Calyork Music also published songs from non-film related composers, who in turn had their work adapted and recorded by musicians and gained royalties. One notable non-movie hit that Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell had was the McGuire Sisters's version of ''May You Always'' which peaked to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 list in January 1959 and became the second best-selling sheet music in the United States. Some of the notable soundtracks published through Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music and Calyork Music include ''Trapeze'', ''Sweet Smell of Success'', ''Cry Tough'' and ''The Unforgiven''. The ''Sweet Smell of Success#Musical score and soundtrack, soundtrack to Sweet Smell of Success'' was quite notable and critically important as it was the first film to feature two completely different soundtracks released on LP; one with Elmer Bernstein's score, the other with Chico Hamilton's jazz band.Plans after Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions
When Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions announced a hiatus (which eventually led to their breakup) in the spring of 1959, Hecht was approached with two offers. The first was for a major executive position at Paramount Pictures as Production Chief, succeeding Young Frank Freeman.''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', June 9 1959, p22/ref> But Hecht had enjoyed the freedom of being an independent film producer for twelve years and was reluctant to deal with a major Hollywood studio's problems. He had also been offered a similar position at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer two years earlier, which he had not accepted for the same reason. Hecht turned down Paramount's offer and the position was eventually filled by Jack Karp. The second proposal interested him much more. Producer Alan J. Pakula had purchased the film rights to Elliott Arnold's action novel, ''Flight from Ashiya'', and approached Hecht to co-produce it."Harold Hecht Schedules His First Solo Film"
''Boxoffice'', May 11, 1959, p18 Hecht and Lancaster had previously purchased the screen rights to one of Arnold's Western books, ''Blood Brother'', and came very close to turning it into a picture (it was eventually made as ''Broken Arrow (1950 film), Broken Arrow'' with James Stewart). Pakula commissioned Arnold to adapt ''Flight from Ashiya'' into a screenplay while Hecht approached such stars as Clark Gable, Ronald Reagan and Tuesday Weld for the leads. But that summer Hecht became involved with other film projects that soon took on priority and it would be four years before ''Flight from Ashiya'' was filmed, with a different script and an all-new cast including Yul Brynner. On top of promoting a backlog of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions films that were coming out in 1959–1960 (''The Rabbit Trap'', ''Cry Tough'', ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'', ''The Devil's Disciple'', ''Take a Giant Step'' and ''The Unforgiven''), Hecht was busy planning future United Artists-financed films from the H-H-L unit (including ''The Way West''). He also formed a new film production company with Canadian actor Glenn Ford. Their first film together was to be Evan Hunter's novel, ''A Matter of Conviction'', concerning members of a Harlem street gang tried for murder (later released as ''The Young Savages''). Glenn Ford had already starred in another Hunter adaptation, ''Blackboard Jungle''; the film was nominated for four Oscars. Hecht was hoping that the new combo would be as successful and hired more top Hollywood personnel to work on ''The Young Savages''; John Gay to write the screenplay and Robert Rossen to direct."H-H-L Have Parted But Two to Come"
''Films and Filming'', September 1959, p271 But by the end of the year, Glenn Ford had left the project and in early 1960 Rossen dropped out to focus on his future Oscar-nominated film, ''The Hustler''. Many of the projects that Hecht worked on between 1959 and 1964 shifted back and forth between independent solo productions and Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions ventures. Because of a financial deficit owed to United Artists when Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions decided to call it quits in 1959, the three partners were obligated to make a number of films for the studio in an attempt to recoup the costs. Some of the films were to be as individuals, others were required to be under the Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions banner. In that manner, ''The Young Savages'' became a Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions film when Burt Lancaster was cast in the lead, replacing Glenn Ford, in early 1960.
With Lancaster in the picture, ''The Young Savages'' headed in a new direction. Hecht hired J.P. Miller, who had worked on ''The Rabbit Trap'' and had since been nominated for an Emmy Award, and Edward Anhalt, a two-time Academy Award nominee who had won a Best Screenplay Oscar for the 1951 film ''Panic in the Streets (film), Panic in the Streets'', to rewrite the script. Meanwhile, Lancaster approached respected young television director John Frankenheimer who had already done a low-budget picture, ''The Young Stranger'', a few years prior but ''The Young Savages'' has since been considered by most as his true film debut. Lancaster and Frankenheimer would make a total of five films together. In turn, Frankenheimer hired another television acquaintance, the promising young actor Sydney Pollack, as a dialogue coach for the teenage hoodlums who needed an authentic New York City accents. ''The Young Savages'' was partly filmed on location in New York City with three-time Academy Award nominated cinematographer Lionel Lindon. Lindon had won an Oscar in 1957 for his work on ''Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Around the World in Eighty Days''. The cast featured Shelley Winters, who had just won an Oscar for ''The Diary of Anne Frank (1959 film), The Diary of Anne Frank'', Edward Andrews, who had just made ''Elmer Gantry (film), Elmer Gantry'' with Lancaster and Dina Merrill, who had just finished Blake Edwards' ''Operation Petticoat'' with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. Telly Savalas made his film debut playing the role of a tough cop, not unlike his future TV character in ''Kojak''. ''The Young Savages'' was released in the spring of 1961 through United Artists, but unfortunately was not the success that Hecht had anticipated.
Immediately after filming wrapped on ''The Young Savages'', Hecht and Lancaster started filming their next project. ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' was once again financed by United Artists, as part of the recoup deal. The biopic was a romanticized depiction of Robert Stroud, a life-sentenced murderer who taught himself ornithology while confined in prison, and who became an authority on bird medicine. Stroud authored a series of books on the subject and gained enough recognition that a biography of his life was accounted by Thomas E. Gaddis. Gaddis' novel was first optioned by Twentieth Century-Fox in the late 1950s but the project was strongly opposed by the prison system which did not want to dignify the public's perception of the criminal. In 1960 Hecht and Lancaster purchased the film rights and hired Guy Trosper, an Academy Award nominee, to write the screenplay. Filming began on location in San Francisco in the summer of 1960, with British director Charles Crichton. But due to disagreements with Lancaster, Crichton was fired after a mere week of shooting. Hecht and Lancaster approached Frankenheimer to take over as director. No fewer that four film editors were hired and then fired. The rough cut ran four hours. Finally, when shooting wrapped, Lancaster personally supervised the editing. The result was an acclaimed and Academy-nominated performance for his acting.
Two top cinematographers were hired to work on ''Birdman of Alcatraz''; Burnett Guffey, who had won an Oscar in 1954 for his work on ''From Here to Eternity'' and had been nominated in 1957 for ''The Harder They Fall (1956 film), The Harder They Fall'', and John Alton, who had worked with Lancaster on ''Elmer Gantry'' but was most known for the iconic film noir, ''The Big Combo''. With Lancaster in the lead, the rest of the cast featured Karl Malden, a two-time Oscar nominee, once for ''A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film), A Streetcar Named Desire'', another for ''On the Waterfront'', Thelma Ritter, a five-time Oscar nominee, Telly Savalas, Neville Brand, Edmond O'Brien, an Oscar winner for ''The Barefoot Contessa'' who had appeared in Lancaster's first film, ''The Killers'' in 1946, Hugh Marlowe, who had appeared in ''Elmer Gantry'' and Whit Bissell, who had appeared in two other Lancaster films, ''Brute Force'' and ''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' as well as in Frankenheimer's ''The Young Stranger''. The film also features an uncredited bit part by Len Lesser, who in the 1990s gained fame as Uncle Leo in ''Seinfeld''. Elmer Bernstein returned to compose the soundtrack, his second collaboration with Hecht after his triumph on ''Sweet Smell of Success''.
''Birdman of Alcatraz'' was another major success at film festivals and award ceremonies. After its release in the summer of 1962, it was nominated for four Oscars including one for Lancaster as Best Actor in a Leading Role, one for Telly Savalas as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, one for Thelma Ritter as Best Actress in a Supporting Role and one for Burnett Guffey for Best Black-and-White Cinematography. It won three Laurel Awards, one for Top Drama, one for Top Male Dramatic Performance and one for Top Female Supporting Performance. The British Academy Film Awards gave Lancaster an award for Best Foreign Actor and the Golden Globe Awards nominated him for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Savalas for Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, Best Supporting Actor. The Directors Guild of America Award nominated Frankenheimer for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures and the Writers Guild of America Award nominated Trosper for Best Written American Drama. At the Venice Film Festival, it was nominated for its top prize, the Golden Lion, and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, Volpi Cup Award for Best Actor and the San Giorgio Prize Award. It also made the National Board of Review Awards' Top Ten Films list and was ranked number 76 on American Film Institute, AFI's list, ''100 Years…100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies''.
Return to Harold Hecht Productions
Hecht's next project was originally planned for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions in the late 1950s, after they bought the property from Robert Aldrich. But in early 1960 it was announced that Hecht was taking over the production of ''Taras Bulba (1962 film), Taras Bulba'', an action-adventure film that incorporated elements of war and romance. Based on Nikolai Gogol's Taras Bulba, novella of the same name, ''Taras Bulba'' tells the story of a Cossack clan in Ukraine fighting against the Poles, all while a love story develops between the son of the Cossack leader and the daughter of an aristocratic Polish family. The film was a co-production between Tony Curtis' Curtleigh Productions and Hecht's original Harold Hecht Productions, making a comeback after its first use for 1948's ''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands''. Hecht hired J. Lee Thompson as director and Waldo Salt, who had written the script of ''The Flame and the Arrow'' in 1949 before being blacklisted, and Karl Tunberg, a two-time Oscar nominee who had just worked on megahit ''Ben-Hur (1959 film), Ben-Hur'', to write the screenplay. The title role was first planned for Lancaster, then for Anthony Quinn and finally landed on Yul Brynner, an Academy Award winner for his role in ''The King and I (1956 film), The King and I'', who would provide an authentic performance with his Gypsy background. It co-starred Tony Curtis and Christine Kaufmann, who went on to marry him after the film. Featured roles were played by Sam Wanamaker, Brad Dexter, who had appeared in Hecht's ''Run Silent, Run Deep'' and ''The Magnificent Seven'' with Brynner, Guy Rolfe, Perry Lopez and George Macready. Hecht also gave a cameo role to his soon-to-be second wife, Martine Millner, as a gypsy dancer. The production was financed by United Artists with a budget of $3,800,000. Hecht went on location in Salta, Argentina with Eastmancolor equipped Panavision cameras, and two-time Oscar nominated cinematographer, Joseph MacDonald. After a series of delays, extensive hiring of extras for the battle scenes and post-production costs at Columbia Studios, the films' budget skyrocketed to a total of $7,000,000. ''Taras Bulba'' was released in late 1962 and featured a score by Franz Waxman, who had worked with Hecht on ''Run Silent, Run Deep''. Waxman's soundtrack was a considerable success, surpassing the fame of the film itself. It was praised by Bernard Herrmann, considered by many to be one of Hollywood's greatest composers. Waxman's score was nominated for three awards; one at the Academy Awards for Best Music Score – Substantially Original, another at the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, Golden Globe Awards, for Best Original Score and a last at the International Film Music Critics Association for Best Archival Re-Recording of an Existing Score. In late 1962 Hecht resumed work on ''Flight from Ashiya''. By then Alan Pakula had dropped out to produce the drama film ''To Kill a Mockingbird (film), To Kill a Mockingbird''. Waldo Salt continued his association with Hecht and co-wrote the screenplay with author Elliot Arnold. Oscar nominated director Michael Anderson (director), Michael Anderson (nominated for ''Around the World in Eighty Days'') came on board with two cinematographers; Burnett Guffey, who had just been nominated at the Academy Awards for his work on ''Birdman of Alcatraz'', and Joseph MacDonald, who had worked on ''Taras Bulba''. The production was financed and distributed by United Artists on a much smaller budget of $1,800,000, but was still granted top-quality equipment of the era, including Panavision and Eastmancolor. The story revolved around a United States Air Force Air Rescue Service mission to save Japanese civilians stranded on a lifeboat. This time the crew traveled to Rome, Italy, where Hecht and his new bride Martine Millner were to have a limited honeymoon squeezed between the shooting schedule. Most of the filming subsequently took place in Japan, in Kyoto, Tokyo, Tachikawa and Osaka. The film starred Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark and George Chakiris, who was reluctant to take the role after winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in ''West Side Story''. It also featured Suzy Parker, Shirley Knight, who had been nominated for Best Supporting Actress the year prior for ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (film), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs'', Danielle Gaubert and Eiko Taki, whom Hecht signed to a non-exclusive, three-picture contract with Harold Hecht Productions (the other two films on her contract were never made). ''Flight from Ashiya'' was released in the spring of 1964 to limited success. Tony Curtis had been under contract to Universal Pictures since 1948 and his last film for the studio was up. Hecht teamed up with Curtis' new production company, Reynard Productions, to produce the romantic comedy, ''Wild and Wonderful'' (previously, ''Monsieur Cognac''). Financed through a strictly budgeted, one-picture deal with Universal, ''Wild and Wonderful'' was Hecht's fourth and final collaboration with Curtis. It also starred Curtis' new wife, Christine Kaufmann, who signed a six-picture contract with Harold Hecht Productions; the other five films of her deal never materialized. Featured roles were played by Larry Storch, Marty Ingels, Marcel Dalio, Cliff Osmond, Fifi D'Orsay, Vito Scotti, Stanley Adams (actor), Stanley Adams and Shelly Manne. ''Wild and Wonderful'' was based on Dorothy Crider's story, ''I Married a Dog''. The comedic plot involves an alcoholic dog, named Monsieur Cognac, who one night escapes from his mansion in Paris to get a drink. He befriends a young musician (Curtis) and spends the night with him at locals taverns before sleeping it off at his apartment. Monsieur Cognac's owner, a rich and famous actress (Kaufmann), finds the two of them the next day and develops a love affair with Curtis, much to the opposition of her jealous dog and her controlling father. A number of screenwriters worked on ''Wild and Wonderful'', including Philip Rapp, Richard M. Powell (screenwriter), Richard Powell, Larry Markes, Michael Morris (screenwriter), Michael Morris and Waldo Salt. Director Michael Anderson returned to work with Hecht for a second time after ''Flight from Ashiya'', with seven-time Academy Award nominated cinematographer, Joseph LaShelle, who had won an Oscar for ''Laura (1944 film), Laura'' in 1945. The film was entirely set in Paris but because of Universal's limited budget, it became one of the few movies that Hecht was not granted permission to film on actual location. It was shot at Universal Studios with sets superbly designed by Ruby R. Levitt, an Oscar-nominated set decorator who had previously worked with Hecht on ''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'' (also filmed at Universal Studios, in 1948). ''Wild and Wonderful'' was released in the spring of 1964 but was a box-office disappointment. In late 1962 Hecht signed a two-picture deal with Columbia Pictures. After a series of projects fell through, Hecht decided to revive an old Hecht-Lancaster Productions property from the mid-1950s, Roy Chanselor's Western novel, ''The Ballad of Cat Ballou''. As a Hecht-Lancaster Productions project, ''Cat Ballou'' was originally to be a comedy musical Western film starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis as rival brothers. As early as 1960, Hecht worked on ''Cat Ballou'' as a solo project and was finally able to secure its production through his Columbia deal. The plot for ''Cat Ballou'' evolves around a young woman coming back to her homestead only to find her father's farm terrorized by local gunmen. She hires the legendary Kid Shelleen to defend the farm but soon realizes that he's a washout, more interested in getting drunk. The film went through a series of screenwriters from its inception in 1956, starting with Roy Chanselor who adapted his own novel, then William Bowers, William Ludwig (screenwriter), William Ludwig, Burt Kennedy, Walter Newman (screenwriter), Walter Newman, Mitchell Lindemann, Frank Pierson, and finally Walter Bernstein, who agreed to write the script "to Hecht's satisfaction". That no time limit clause in his contract caused him to work for two years until Hecht said, okay, that's it. Bernstein said he would never agree to such a contract clause again. The principal role of Kid Shelleen was offered and passed on by almost every big name star in Hollywood over its ten-year pre-production stage. After Lancaster dropped out, five other actors turned down the role, including Spencer Tracy, Kirk Douglas and José Ferrer, before Lee Marvin was offered the part. The role of Cat Ballou was also offered to a number of stars, including Natalie Wood (when Lancaster was still in the cast) and Ann-Margret (who didn't get a chance to accept it as her agent turned it down without consulting her), before Jane Fonda accepted it. The rest of the cast featured Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, Nat King Cole, Stubby Kaye, Tom Nardini, Jay C. Flippen, John Marley, Arthur Hunnicutt, Reginald Denny (actor), Reginald Denny and Bruce Cabot. ''Cat Ballou'' turned out to be Nat King Cole's final film appearance as he passed away of lung cancer four months before it was released. The film was directed by Elliot Silverstein, who had spent the previous ten years directing television episodes, and was shot in twenty-eight days on location in Cañon City, Colorado, at the Columbia Ranch in Burbank, California and at the Gower Street Studios in Hollywood. Two-time Oscar nominee Frank De Vol composed the soundtrack with songs written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston. Released in the summer of 1965, ''Cat Ballou'' was a huge success and earned over $20,000,000 at the box-office. It was one of the top-ten films of the year and was nominated and won a ton of awards. At the 38th Academy Awards ceremony in 1966 it was nominated for five Oscars including one for Lee Marvin who won for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Other nominated categories included Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Academy Award for Best Editing, Best Editing, Best Music, Original Song and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment. At the Golden Globe Awards, Marvin won for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the film was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor, Most Promising Newcomer – Male and for Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, Best Original Song. The British Academy Film Awards too rewarded Marvin for Best Foreign Actor and nominated Nardini for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. The Laurel Awards was another big supporter of the film, with four Golden Laurels; one for Best Comedy, one for Top Male Comedy Performance, one for Top Female Comedy Performance and another for Top Song. The Directors Guild of America nominated Silverstein for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures and the Writers Guild of America nominated Newman and Pierson for Best Written American Comedy. The New York Film Critics Circle gave Marvin an award for Best Actor. The Berlin International Film Festival Awarded the film in three categories; the Silver Berlin Bear Award for Best Actor, the Award of Special Mention and the Award for Best Feature Film Suitable for Young People and nominated Silverstein for a Golden Berlin Bear Award for Best Director. Before ''Cat Ballou'' was even released, Hecht announced to the press an interest in producing a sequel entitled ''Kid Shelleen''. He hoped to have Marvin and Fonda reprise their roles and was in negotiation with Bette Davis for a part. Hecht worked on various scripts and pre-production stages over the next twenty years of his life. ''Cat Ballou'' was also adapted for two separate television pilots, both in 1971. The first was for American Broadcasting Company, ABC and starred Lesley Ann Warren as Cat Ballou, Jack Elam as Kid Shelleen and Tom Nardini who returned as Jackson Two Bears. The ABC episode aired on September 5, 1971. The second pilot was produced at the same time by NBC and starred Jo Ann Harris as Cat Ballou, Forrest Tucker as Kid Shelleen and featured Harry Morgan as a rancher. This episode aired on September 6, 1971, the day after the ABC episode was shown. Neither pilots were picked up for production. Hecht's final released film was adapted from A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s Pulitzer Prize-winning Western novel, ''The Way West''. The production of ''The Way West (film), The Way West'' marked the end of Hecht's contract with United Artists, which had already spent quite a considerable amount of money on pre-production at that point. The property had originally been purchased by Hecht-Lancaster Productions in late 1953 and Hecht spent fourteen years developing the screenplay under the financial supervision of United Artists. When announced in 1953, United Artists had granted the production unit the largest budget a Western film had ever received, with $5,000,000, advertising costs excluded. By 1959 that budget had been raised to $8,000,000. ''The Way West'' was intended as a major box-office attraction and Hecht hired Hollywood's top names to work on the film. Over the years such stars as Burt Lancaster, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Ingrid Bergman and Katharine Hepburn were all signed on for parts. A number of writers also worked on various developments, including Clifford Odets, John Twist, Marvin Borowsky, James R. Webb and Jessamyn West (writer), Jessamyn West. The final screenplay was written by Mitchell Lindemann and Ben Maddow and the production starred Kirk Douglas, Richard Widmark and Robert Mitchum. Jack Elam, Nick Cravat, John Mitchum (Robert Mitchum's younger brother, best remembered for appearing in Clint Eastwood's ''Dirty Harry'' series), Stubby Kaye and Sally Field (making her film debut) all had featured roles. Filmed on location in Oregon and Arizona using Panavision cameras equipped with DeLuxe color film, ''The Way West'' retold the story of pioneers who crossed the Midwest to reach the new territory of Oregon in the mid-1840s. The film was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, an established and well-respect Western director who had done ''McLintock!'' with John Wayne, ''Shenandoah (film), Shenandoah'' and ''The Rare Breed'', both with James Stewart, ''The Ballad of Josie'' with Doris Day and Peter Graves, and ''Gun the Man Down'' with James Arness. He had also directed a number of Western television episodes on ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' with Richard Boone, ''Gunsmoke'' with James Arness, ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'' with Clint Eastwood and ''Gunslinger (TV series), Gunslinger'' with Tony Young (actor), Tony Young. The cinematographer on ''The Way West'' was equally qualified. William H. Clothier was a two-time Oscar nominee for Westerns. He had worked on ''Stagecoach (1966 film), Stagecoach'', ''The Rare Breed'', ''Shenandoah'', ''Cheyenne Autumn'', ''McLintock!'', ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'', ''The Comancheros (film), The Comancheros'', ''The Alamo (1960 film), The Alamo'', ''The Horse Soldiers'', ''Gun the Man Down'' and ''Seven Men from Now''. The movie was topped by Bronislau Kaper's soundtrack, a three-time Academy Award nominated composer. But even with all the star-power that Hecht had employed over the years, the film turned out to be a box-office disappointment. After ''The Way West'', Hecht continued working on a great many film projects and never retired from his profession. The next film he developed was ''The Comic'', his second of the two-picture contract at Columbia Pictures. Adapted from the original story ''Baggy Pants'' by Walter Newman, ''The Comic'' was first adapted by the author in late 1965. The story dealt with a silent screen star, his rise to fame and his downfall. In the summer of 1967 Hecht approached Dick Van Dyke to star in the film and Carl Reiner to direct and co-produce it. With them on board ''The Comic'' became a joint venture between Harold Hecht Productions, Van Dyke's DFI Productions and Reiner's Acre Enterprises. Later that summer Hecht screen-tested May 1967 Playboy Playboy Playmate, Playmate of the Month model, Anne Randall, for the female lead. Reiner, Van Dyke and screenwriter Aaron Ruben re-wrote the screenplay considerably over the next year and by the summer of 1968, Hecht was out of the picture. The film was eventually released in late 1969, strictly as a Reiner production, and it is currently unknown if any of Hecht's contributions remained in the final version of the film. One of the projects that has been wrongly accredited to Hecht is ''Ulzana's Raid''. Certain sources claim (without validating their own sources) that Hecht (as well as Burt Lancaster, who starred in the film) was an uncredited producer. Hecht's involvement was never claimed by anyone who worked on the film and the only credited production companies and producers for ''Ulzana's Raid'' are Robert Aldrich and his production company, The Associates and Aldrich Company, and Carter DeHaven and his production company, De Haven Productions. There are no records of Hecht having any input on this film, nor of his various production companies being involved. Neither are there any records of Lancaster's company, Norlan Productions, being involved in the making of the film. Though Lancaster was often noted as having a strong influence on the directing and editing of the motion pictures he appeared in, ''Ulzana's Raid'' was in fact a financial agreement between Lancaster and Universal Pictures; in exchange for appearing in ''Ulzana's Raid'', Universal was to finance the making of Norlan Production's film ''The Midnight Man (1974 film), The Midnight Man''. Hecht's collaboration on ''Ulzana's Raid'' is therefore a debated issue, and with no proof whatsoever to validate this claim, it is better to assume that he was not associated with the project at all.Personal life
Marriage to Gloria Buzzell
Hecht was married twice. His first marriage was to Gloria Joyce Buzzell on November 1, 1947, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gloria Buzzell's father, Samuel Jesse Buzzell, was a theatrical and music-patent attorney and her uncle was film director Edward Buzzell. She had previously worked as an executive assistant in MGM's story department. Harold and Gloria had three children together; Steven, Duffy and Alma. Steven Hecht, born 1948 is an attorney living in the Los Angeles area. Duffy W. Hecht, born June 1950 at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Hollywood, is a producer/writer living in Carpinteria, California. Alma Hecht, born September 1955 at the Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica is a landscape designer living in Berkeley, California. Harold and Gloria separated on July 18, 1959, with Harold moving permanently into Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions' luxurious apartment on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, which he had been maintaining during the couples previous arguments."Divorce Granted"''The Bee'', June 29, 1961, p17] On August 25, 1960, Gloria sued Hecht for divorce alleging mental and physical suffering. Other causes stated included frequent arguments and Harold's extended absence from the family home while working on film productions. Gloria demanded over $1,300,000 in community properties and full custody of their three children. The filing for divorce procedure was granted by the Santa Monica, California court on September 7, 1960, and on June 28, 1961, the divorce was finalized. Harold's estimated $2–4 million value went under appraisal while the ruling over custody of their three children was postponed for an additional 60 days. Part of the estate included original Vincent van Gogh drawing ''The Plain of La Crau'', purchased in 1955.Vincent van Gogh Auctions, 2013
/ref> Additional court sessions were held in July 1961, August 1962, April 1963 and June 1963, where Gloria sued for additional alimony. The court's decision concluded that Harold would pay alimony to Gloria for 121 months (a little over 10 years) regardless of occupation or remarriages.
''Justia US Law'', January 18, 1968 If Harold was to pass away before the end of the ten years, his estate was to continue payments. On July 12, 1963, Gloria remarried to Franklin Desser, an attorney from New York City, and became Gloria Hecht Desser. In January 1968, Harold filed for appeal over the alimony ruling but was denied.
Marriage to Martine Millner
Hecht's second marriage was to English model-actress Martine Millner, née Margaret Truefitt. The couple took out a marriage license on Tuesday, October 30, 1962, in Los Angeles and were wed on Thursday, November 1 in San Francisco. They then embarked on a honeymoon in Rome, where part of Hecht's then production, ''Flight from Ashiya'', was being filmed. At the time of their marriage, Millner was 26 while Hecht was 55. Millner had a cameo in Hecht's 1962 film, ''Taras Bulba''. Harold and Martine also had three children together; Harold, Jr., Adam and Rebecca. Harold and Martine separated in September 1974, two months short of celebrating their twelve-year anniversary. This time the court ordered Harold to pay a $4,000 monthly allowance to Martine and she retained possession of the couple's $350,000 home and half of his $2,000,000 community property assets. Harold Hecht, Jr., born September 14, 1963, worked with director John Frankenheimer and is now a three-time Emmy Award-winning sports television producer. Adam Arthur Hecht was born on August 6, 1965, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, UCLA Medical Center and worked as a tennis coach before mysteriously vanishing on July 7, 1989, from Beverly Hills, California at age 23. He has never been found, but the police do not suspect foul play and classify the case as a missing person. The story of Adam Hecht's disappearance was depicted on the American television series ''Unsolved Mysteries'' in 1990. Rebecca was born in May 1970; her profession is a baking business.Death
Hecht died in his home in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills, of pancreatic cancer on May 26, 1985. It was six days before his 78th birthday. He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.Partial list of companies
Hecht has founded and co-founded a number of companies over the years. *Goonies (1934–1935) *Hecht-Rantz Agency (1945–1946) with Louis Rantz *Harold Hecht Productions (1946–1985) *Norma Productions (1947–1985) with Burt Lancaster *Halburt Productions (1950–1952) with Burt Lancaster *Hecht-Lancaster Productions (1953–1956) with Burt Lancaster *William Service Company (1953–1959) with Burt Lancaster *Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions (1956–1960) with Burt Lancaster and James Hill *Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music (1956–1957) with Burt Lancaster and Loring Buzzell *Calyork Music (1957–1958) with Burt Lancaster and Loring Buzzell *Clifton Productions (1957–1958) with Burt Lancaster and James Hill *Hecht & Buzzell Music (1959–1960) with Lu Ann Simms *Contemporary Productions (1960–1961) with Burt Lancaster *The Harold Hecht Corporation (1962–1985) *Harold Hecht Films (1964–1985) *Harold Hecht Company (1966–1985)Partial list of clients and contract actors
This section contains a list of people who were managed partly or exclusively by Harold Hecht (through the Goldstone Agency, the Hecht-Rantz Agency or Harold Hecht Productions) and actors who signed long-term or multi-picture contracts with him or his solo production companies. It does not include actors who were under contract to Norma Productions, Hecht-Lancaster Productions or Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions. *Leopold Lawrence Atlas, writer *Edith Barrett, actress *Walter Bernstein, writer *Roman Bohnen, actor *Phil Brown, actor *Paddy Chayefsky, writer *Daniel Fuchs, writer *Danielle Gaubert, actress *Christine Kaufmann, actress *Roland Kibbee, writer *Burt Lancaster, actor *Isobel Lennart, writer *Francis McDonald, actor *Karen Morley, actress *Frances Rafferty, actress *Meta Reis Rosenberg, writer *Art Smith, actor *Eiko Taki, actress/ref> *George Willner, writer"Testimony of Harold Adolph Hecht, Accompanied By His Counsel, Edward Bennett Williams"
''Investigation of Communist activities in the Los Angeles area'', March 23
Filmography
Theater credits
As actor
*''The Straw Hat'' (October–November 1926) *''Big Lake'' (April 1927) *''Much Ado About Nothing'' (November–December 1927) *''Dr. Knock'' (February–March 1928) *''Grand Street Follies'' (May–October 1928) *''The Wild Duck'' (November 1928 – January 1929)As dance director/choreographer
*''Les noces'' (1930) *''Lucky Day'' (December 1931 – 1932) *''Hullabaloo'' (May–June 1932) *''The Merry Widow'' (November 1932 – 1933) *''Skyscrapers'' (July 1933) *''Sing for Your Supper'' (April–June 1939)As director
*''Hullabaloo'' (May–June 1932) *''The Merry Widow'' (November 1932 – 1933) *''Skyscrapers'' (July 1933) *''But for the Grace of God'' (January 1937 – 1937) *''Sing for Your Supper'' (April–June 1939)As producer
*''Hullabaloo'' (May–June 1932) *''Skyscrapers'' (July 1933) *''Sing for Your Supper'' (April–June 1939) *''Separate Tables'' (October 1956 – September 1957)References
External links
*Harold Hecht on the Internet Broadway Database
*
Transcript of Harold Hecht's HUAC Interview
Harold Hecht on Turner Classic Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hecht, Harold 1907 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American businesspeople American choreographers American entertainment industry businesspeople American film people Film producers from New York (state) American film production company founders American male musical theatre actors American male stage actors American musical theatre directors American people of Czech descent American talent agents American theatre directors American theatre managers and producers Broadway theatre producers Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from pancreatic cancer Film choreographers Film directors from New York (state) Hollywood talent agents Jewish American male actors Male actors from New York City Norma Productions people Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award Businesspeople from New York City People from Yorkville, Manhattan United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Film directors from New York City 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers United States Army Air Forces soldiers 20th-century American Jews