Bibliograph

Ben Hecht, fighting words, moving pictures, Adina Hoffman

Type

Label

Ben Hecht, fighting words, moving pictures, Adina Hoffman

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-229) and index

resource.biographical

individual biography

Illustrations

portraitsillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Ben Hecht

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1083340454

Responsibility statement

Adina Hoffman

Series statement

Jewish lives

Sub title

fighting words, moving pictures

Summary

"He was, according to Pauline Kael, 'the greatest American screenwriter.' Jean-Luc Godard called him 'a genius' who 'invented 80 percent of what is used in Hollywood movies today.' Besides tossing off dozens of now-classic scripts--including Scarface,Twentieth Century, and Notorious--Ben Hecht was known in his day as ace reporter, celebrated playwright, taboo-busting novelist, and the most quick-witted of provocateurs. During World War II, he also emerged as an outspoken crusader for the imperiled Jews of Europe, and later he became a fierce propagandist for pre-1948 Palestine's Jewish terrorist underground. Whatever the outrage he stirred, this self-declared 'child of the century' came to embody much that defined America--especially Jewish America--in his time. Hecht's fame has dimmed with the decades, but Adina Hoffman's vivid portrait brings this charismatic and contradictory figure back to life on the page. Hecht was a renaissance man of dazzling sorts, and Hoffman--critically acclaimed biographer, former film critic, and eloquent commentator on Middle Eastern culture and politics--is uniquely suited to capture him in all his modes"--Jacket

Table Of Contents

Prologue : the man -- The root -- The news -- The world -- The times -- The screen -- The rogues -- The Jews -- The cry -- The flag -- The child -- Epilogue : the end

resource.variantTitle

Fighting words, moving pictures

Classification