#harold hecht

[burtlancster]

The cast of Separate Tables with producer Harold Hecht and director Delbert Mann. Photos taken by Ron Harvey on stage 5, Goldwyn Studios, 1957.

[gregorygalloway]

Marty premiered on 11 April 1955 (before wider release in July).

Paddy Chayefsky expanded his 1953 teleplay for the big screen, and Rod Steiger (who had starred in the TV version) declined the offer when producers Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster demanded that his participation was contingent on a multi-film deal. Augusta Ciolli, Joe Mantell, and Esther Minciotti all appeared in both the TV and film versions.

Shot in less than 3 weeks, Marty was a commercial and critical success, receiving 8 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Mantell), Best Supporting Actress (Betsy Blair), Best Black and White Cinematography (Joseph LaShelle), and Best Black and White Art Direction.

Marty received 4 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director (Delbert Mann), Best Actor (Ernest Borgnine), and Best Screenplay (Chayefsky). Marty also received the first awarded Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

[burtlancster]

Burt Lancaster with his producing partner Harold Hecht and producer Norman Deming on the set of The Crimson Pirate. On location on Ischia island in the Gulf of Naples, 1951.

[burtlancster]

one of the cruelest things he’s ever done tbh

[burtlancster]

Burt Lancaster, director Alexander Mackendrick, producers James Hill and Harold Hecht, and Tony Curtis on the set of Sweet Smell of Success, 1957.

[burtlancster]

I would like to say a word at this time, if I may, about Ernie Borgnine, who won an Oscar tonight for his performance in Marty. I think that this picture would not have been as big or important a picture if Harold Hecht and I hadn’t been so fortunate as to find not only a great actor but a great personality for the role of Marty. I mean that.

Thank you, Burt.

— Ernest Borgnine and producing partners Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster backstage at the 28th Academy Awards, 1956.

[gregorygalloway]

Sweet Smell of Success premiered in New York City on 27 June 1957.

Director Alexander Mackendrick recalled that Tony Curtis fans were shocked by his scheming, sleazy character, and Burt Lancaster fans weren’t pleased either, “recoiling from the screen in disgust.” The film was a box office failure.

The producers, Harold Hecht, James Hill, and Burt Lancaster, openly blamed one another. “You know you've wrecked our company?” Harold Hecht said to Hill. “We're going to lose over a million dollars on this picture." Lancaster threatened to punch Hill. “Go ahead,” his business partner told him, “I could use the money.”

Ernest Lehman adapted the screenplay from his own novella, and wanted to direct, but the job went to Mackendrick. Lehman fell ill before shooting began and Clifford Odets was hired to finish the script in a few weeks. He took 4 months. Shooting began without a final script and Odets is said to have sent pages directly from his typewriter to the set.

Universal did not want Tony Curtis to take the role of Sidney Falco for fear that it would “ruin his career.” Mackendrick wanted Hume Cronyn for J.J. Hunsecker but Universal demanded that it go to Lancaster (who had been paired with Curtis a year earlier in the highly successful Trapeze). Robert Vaughn was hired to play Steve Dallas, but was drafted into the Army before filming began and was replaced by Martin Milner, who was under contract with Lancaster’s production company.

[herrenleben]

Der rote Korsar (The Crimson Pirate)

Piratenfilm ; USA ; 1952 ; FA ; Regie: Robert Siodmak ; Drehbuch: Roland Kibbee ; Produktion: Harold Hecht, Burt Lancaster für Warner Brothers ; Musik: William Alwyn ; Kamera: Otto Heller ; Schnitt: Jack Harris ; Darsteller: Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat, Eva Bartok, Leslie Bradley, Torin Thatcher, James Hayter, Frederick Leister, Noel Purcell, Eliot Makeham, Christopher Lee, Dana Wynter, Margot Grahame, Frank Pettingell