Biography
Hecht began writing for films in the late '20s, and over the next four decades worked on scripts for such notable directors as
Lewis Milestone (Hallelujah, I'm a Bum),
Ernst Lubitsch (
Design for Living),
Howard Hawks (
Barbary Coast,
Monkey Business), William A. Wellman (
Nothing Sacred),
George Stevens (
Gunga Din),
William Wyler (
Wuthering Heights),
Alfred Hitchcock (
Spellbound,
Notorious),
Henry Hathaway (
Kiss of Death,
Circus World), and
Otto Preminger (Whirlpool,
Where the Sidewalk Ends). In collaboration with
Charles MacArthur, Hecht wrote several notable plays, including
The Front Page and
Twentieth Century; the two also co-wrote and co-directed the films
Crime Without Passion,
The Scoundrel,
Once in a Blue Moon, and
Soak the Rich.
Lee Garmes lensed and served as associate director on the first two films; he also shot and co-directed with Hecht
Angels Over Broadway and
Actors and Sin. Hecht also directed the ballet drama
Specter of the Rose, and produced or co-produced all the films he directed; he also produced
Ten Gentlemen from West Point and
China Girl. ~ All Movie Guide