Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist and novelist. He received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some seventy films. He wrote thirty-five books and created some of the most entertaining screenplays and plays in America. After World War I, Hecht wrote his first and most successful novel, Erik Dorn (1921). His other best selling novels are Kingdom of Evil, The Florentine Dagger: A Novel for Amateur Detectives, A Jew in Love, Actor's Blood, The Egoist, and Gargoyles.