Ben Hecht, screenwriter and novelist, the Shakespeare of Hollywood.
From where do we draw wisdom?
First and foremost, Seraphic Secret relies on the Torah—written and oral—on the lessons of 3,000 years of Jewish history, and on the common sense advice of my wife Karen.
And then there are the movies, a moral landscape of immeasurable power where searing images and razor-sharp dialogue deliver lessons in human character that, for better or for worse, shape modern man’s consciousness.
I know it seems ludicrous, if not downright blasphemous, noting Torah and movies as primary influences, but the mind of yours truly, a screenwriter and movie-lover, is a stage of raging intellectual conflicts.
Here are five slices of dialogue by some of of Hollywood’s finest screenwriters that brilliantly and economically unmask a raw and vulnerable humanity.
Jean Harlow in “Beast of the City,” 1932. Written by W.R. Burnett and John Lee Mahin with uncredited work by Ben Hecht.
Harlow as Daisy: “Are ya gonna to try and reform me?”
Wallace Ford as Detective Fitzpatrick: “What for?”
Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in “China Seas,” 1935, screenplay by Jules Furthman and James Kevin McGuinness with uncredited contributions by Paul Bern, Paul Hervey Fox, Monckton Hoffe, John Lee Mahin, and Maurice Revnes.
Jean Harlow as China Doll to Clark Gable as Captain Alan Gaskell: “But you taught me something I didn’t even know myself. When a woman can love a man right down to her fingernails, she can hate him the same way.”
Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in “Gone With the Wind,” 1939, written by Sidney Howard with uncredited contributions by Oliver H.P. Garrett, Ben Hecht, Jo Swerling and John Van Druten.
Vivien Leight as Scarlett O’Hara: “Cathleen, who’s that?”
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert: “Who?”
Scarlett: “That man looking at us and smiling. The nasty, dark one.”
Cathleen: “My dear, don’t you know? That’s Rhett Butler. He’s from Charleston. He has the most terrible reputation.”
Scarlett: “He looks as if… as if he knows what I look like without my shimmy!”
John Dall and Peggy Cummins in “Gun Crazy,” 1949, story by MacKinlay Kantor, screenplay by MacKinlay Kantor and Dalton Trumbo.
Dall as Bart to Cummin as Annie Laurie: “We go together, Annie. I don’t know why. Maybe like guns and ammunition go together.”
Jan Sterling and Kirk Douglas in “Ace in the Hole,” 1951, written by Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels, Walter Newman, uncredited story by Victor Desny.
Sterling as Lorraine to Kirk Douglas as Chuck: “I don’t go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.”
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
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Vivien Leight as Scarlett O’Hara: “Cathleen, who’s that?”
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert: “Who?”
Scarlett: “That man looking at us and smiling. The nasty, dark one.”
Cathleen: “My dear, don’t you know? That’s Rhett Butler. He’s from Charleston. He has the most terrible reputation.”
Scarlett: “He looks as if… as if he knows what I look like without my shimmy.
That’s Margaret Mitchell’s dialogue, Robert. Back in those days, Hollywood scriptwriters knew what was good or moving or interesting about a book. Now they maul fine books, (Fair Game, Bonfire of the Vanities, The First Wives Club-all those adaptions were hatchet jobs) and I wouldn’t trust MOST of today’s scriptwriters to adapt a Candlelight Romance. Present company excluded, of course.
By the way, I think Margaret Mitchell and Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) should BOTH have won the Nobel Prize for Literature and I suspect the reason neither one of them did is that Scarlett O’Hara and Francie Nolan are both so courageous and resilient. Nobel Prize for Literature committee members prefer heroes and heroines who mope around and feel sorry for thenselves. Will somebody tell me how Tennessee Williams could reate heroines like Blanche Dubois and Laura Wingfield and NOT win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
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Will somebody tell me how Tennessee Williams could create heroines like Blanche Dubois and Laura Wingfield and NOT win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
Shabbat Shalom. Hodesh Tov.
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Dear Mr Avrech:
I noticed none of the five are from contemporary movies. You have revealed your ignorance by not acknowledging the genius of lines such as “Hey dude, let’s party”. Did Faulkner ever write a line that good? People like yourself must be taught a lesson so you can just forget about being invited to our version of the Algonquin Round Table. I mean, if we had an Algonquin Round Table today since we’re too tired to actually start one. Or to find a table that’s round. Like, we’re as smart and witty as Benchley or Woolcott or MacArthur plus we won’t hurt as many people as Macarthur did when he returned the Philippines (by the way, who did he return the Philippines to? I never understood what he meant).
Anyway, you will miss all of our in-depth discussions such as: The Greater Leader – Hugo or Fidel and Why North Koreans Are The Happiest People On Earth Living The Simple Life.
So forget about joining us and you can wallow in your ignorance of Hollywood history and stick to reading right-wing rags like The Los Angeles Times since you wouldn’t understand the brilliance of The Daily Worker. We’ll have a good laugh at your expense at our next get together, if we ever do decide to look into getting together or something. You’re loss! Modern movies rock!
Signed,
Sean Penn
P.S. Paris Hilton says I should tell you she is way hotter than Parker. SO THERE!!!
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Dear Sean:
Your former wife Madonna was, for a while, going to star in a movie I wrote. We spent a good deal of time togther and she told me what a peaceful and loving guy you are—except for the parts when you beat the crap out of her.
Peace out, brother:-)
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One of the key dialogues for me comes from “A Man for All Seasons”
Susannah York as Margaret: “Then say the words of the oath
and in your heart think otherwise.”
Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas Moore: “What is an oath then, but words we say to God?”
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Jake:
That film is stuffed with great dialogue. Thanks for reminding me.
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“Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world… but for Wales?”
This goes down well in England for some reason. LOL
Also the exchange between Paul Schofield and Leo McKern.
May I have one or two more books?
Why, you have books?
Yes.
I didn’t know, you shouldn’t have.
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