Editing Ben Hecht (section)

===Uncredited films===
Among the better-known films he helped write without being credited are [[Gone with the Wind (film)|''Gone with the Wind'']], ''[[The Shop Around the Corner]]'', ''[[Foreign Correspondent (film)|''Foreign Correspondent'']]'', ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' (the second film version of his play ''The Front Page''), ''[[The Sun Also Rises (1957 film)|The Sun Also Rises]]'', [[Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)|''Mutiny on the Bounty'']], ''[[Casino Royale (1967 film)|Casino Royale]]'' (1967), and ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth (film)|The Greatest Show on Earth]]''.<ref name=Chicago/>  According to Edward White, Hecht's last minute script rewrite for ''Gone with the Wind'' (Hecht had never read the novel), likely saved it from box office disaster, lending credence to Hecht's nickname as the "Shakespeare of Hollywood", even though Hecht saw it as an example of how bad Hollywood's movies really are.<ref name=Paris/>

Often, the only evidence of Hecht's involvement in a movie screenplay has come from letters.

The following are snippets of letters discussing ''[[The Sun Also Rises (1957 film)|The Sun Also Rises]]'', based on the novel by [[Ernest Hemingway]]:<ref name=Selznick>Selznick, David O. ''Memo from David O. Selznick'', The Viking Press (1972)</ref>{{rp|444–445}}

:Letter by [[David O. Selznick]] to Hecht, December 19, 1956:
 
{{blockquote|My present feeling is that eighty percent of the script is eighty per cent right, and that twenty per cent of it is eighty per cent wrong. That's pretty damn good, considering the time we spent on it, even though it was twice as long as you normally spend. So let's really try to do a job that will be&nbsp;... something that we can be proud of for many years to come&nbsp;...}}

:Letter by Selznick to [[John Huston]], April 3, 1957:

{{blockquote|It is certainly not demeaning your talent to say that I don't think there is anybody alive who can come in on a job at the last minute and revise, ''without serious danger'', work to which two old hands like Ben and myself have devoted many, many months of most careful work and devoted effort&nbsp;... it is also true that I have never seen Ben or anyone else bring to a job more thorough analysis, more willingness to rewrite, than he has.}}

The following letter discusses ''[[Portrait of Jennie]]'' (1948):<ref name=Selznick/>{{rp|390–391}}
:Letter by Selznick to Hecht, November 24, 1948:

{{blockquote|Dear Ben: Very many thanks in advance for coming to the rescue again&nbsp;... the audience was enchanted&nbsp;... and it set the mood beautifully for the picture&nbsp;... It needs the type of cinematic forward journalese of which you are the only master I know&nbsp;... In any event, I shall be eagerly awaiting your redraft, which can take an entirely different form&nbsp;... either actual or Hechtian creations}}

;''Gone with the Wind'' (1939)
For original screenplay writer [[Sidney Howard]], film historian Joanne Yeck writes,

{{blockquote|reducing the intricacies of [[Gone with the Wind (film)|''Gone with the Wind'']]'s epic dimensions was a herculean task&nbsp;... and Howard's first submission was far too long, and would have required at least six hours of film;&nbsp;... [producer] Selznick wanted Howard to remain on the set to make revisions&nbsp;... but Howard refused to leave New England, [and] as a result, revisions were handled by a host of local writers, including Ben Hecht<ref>Yeck, Joanne, ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'' (1984) Gale Research</ref>}}

Producer [[David O. Selznick]] replaced the film's director three weeks into filming and then had the script rewritten. He sought out director [[Victor Fleming]], who, at the time, was directing [[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|''The Wizard of Oz'']]. Fleming was dissatisfied with the script, so Selznick brought in famed writer Ben Hecht to rewrite the entire screenplay within five days.<ref>{{cite news |last=Keelor |first=Josette |date=August 1, 2008 |url=http://www.nvdaily.com/lifestyle/292279470722734.bsp |title=A new play by Ron Hutchinson, 'Moonlight and Magnolias', depicts the five-day marathon by Hecht, Selznick, and director Victor Fleming to create the screenplay for 'Gone with the Wind' |work=[[The Northern Virginia Daily]] |access-date=August 1, 2008 |url-status=dead  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915072643/http://www.nvdaily.com/lifestyle/292279470722734.bsp |archive-date=September 15, 2008<!-- This archive link does not include the article above. -->}}</ref>

Hecht was not credited, however, for his contribution, and Sidney Howard received the Academy Award for Best Screenplay.

In a letter from Selznick to film editor O'Shea [October 19, 1939], Selznick discussed how the writing credits should appear, taking into consideration that Sidney Howard had died a few months earlier after a farm-tractor accident at his home in Massachusetts:
 
{{blockquote|To Mr. O'Shea: Some time ago, it was my intention to have, in addition to the Sidney Howard credit on ''Gone With the Wind'', a list of contributing writers. I would rather now abandon this idea, first because, while it is true that Sidney Howard did only a portion of the script&nbsp;... [but] because I don't want to deprive Sidney Howard, and more particularly his widow, of any of the glory that may be attendant upon his last job.<ref name=Selznick/>{{rp|216}}}}

In a letter [September 25, 1939] from Selznick to Hecht, regarding writing introductory sequences and titles, which were used to set the scene and condense the narrative throughout the movie, Selznick wrote,

{{blockquote|Dear Ben: There are only seven titles needed for ''Gone With the Wind'' and I am certain you could bat them out in a few minutes, especially since a few of them can be based on titles you wrote while you were here. Will you do these for me in accordance with your promise?&nbsp;... Very anxious to get picture into laboratory at once and would appreciate it if you could tackle them immediately upon their receipt<ref name=Selznick/>{{rp|214}}}}

;''His Girl Friday'' (1940)
"''[[His Girl Friday]]'' remains not just the fastest-talking romantic comedy ever made, but a very tricky inquiry into love's need for a chase (or a dream) and the sharpest pointer to uncertain gender roles."<ref name=Thomson1/>{{rp|221}}

The ''D.C. Examiner'' writes,

{{blockquote|Director Howard Hawks' 1940 classic "His Girl Friday" is not just one of the funniest screwball comedies ever made, it is also one of the finest film adaptations of a stage play. "Hawks took Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's Broadway hit "The Front Page", the best play about newspapers ever written, and, by changing the gender of a major character, turned it into a romantic comedy. The new script was by Hecht (uncredited) and [[Charles Lederer]].}}

;''Casino Royale'' (1967)
Hecht wrote the first screenplay for [[Ian Fleming]]'s first novel, [[Casino Royale (1967 film)|''Casino Royale'']]. Although the final screenplay and film was made into a comedy spoof, Hecht's version was written as a straight Bond adventure, states spy novelist [[Jeremy Duns]], who recently discovered the original lost scripts. According to Duns, Hecht's version included elements hard to imagine in a film adaptation, adding that "these drafts are a master-class in thriller-writing, from the man who arguably perfected the form with ''Notorious''."<ref name=Duns>Duns, Jeremy. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/8345119/Casino-Royale-discovering-the-lost-script.html "Casino Royale: discovering the lost script"] ''The Telegraph'', U.K. March 2, 2011</ref> Hecht wrote that he has "never had more fun writing a movie", and felt the James Bond character was cinema's first "gentleman superman" in a long time, as opposed to Hammett and Chandler's "roughneck supermen".

A few days before the final screenplay was announced to the press, Hecht died of a heart attack at his home.<ref name=Duns/>

Duns compares Hecht's unpublished screenplay with the final rewritten film:

{{blockquote|All the pages in Hecht's papers are gripping, but the material from April 1964 is phenomenal, and it's easy to imagine it as the basis for a classic Bond adventure. Hecht's treatment of the romance element is powerful and convincing, even with the throwaway ending, but there is also a distinctly adult feel to the story. It has all the excitement and glamour you would expect from a Bond film, but is more suspenseful, and the violence is brutal rather than cartoonish.<ref name=Duns/>}}