Aug. 4, 1957

Oceanside

Box 7, Folders 216-229 of the Ben Hecht
archives at the Newberry Library in Chicago appear to contain whatever
was produced during the time Hecht worked with gangster Mickey Cohen on the
story of the mobster’s life.

"It might be the basis for a top book," Hecht said. "It’s exciting, unusual, frank and startling."

The
men began work in 1956 on a film to be produced by United Artists under
the title "The Mickey Cohen Story" or "The Poison Has Left Me,"
according to The Times, which noted that Hecht was working on "A Farewell to Arms" and had obligations to write two pictures for British film companies. 

By the summer of 1957, Cohen had produced a 150-page manuscript that he showed to Hecht, who was staying in Oceanside.

Noting that Cohen had apparently dictated the manuscript, Hecht said: "He must
have done it himself. No one but Mickey uses words that way. It’s a
goldmine of facts–I haven’t seen so many facts since I was a newspaper
reporter. It has Mickey’s indelible stamp."

Hecht dismissed any
speculation on the project, saying: "Mickey brought it to me and asked
me to read it and tell him what I thought of it. I don’t know of any
plans he may have for it."

In truth, Hecht and Cohen worked on
the manuscript with some diligence. "I spent four days in Oceanside
with him and we got a lot done," Cohen said. There were so many
interruptions that Hecht suggested the two of them retreat to his villa
in Rome, but the federal government took a dim view of the former
mobster going to Italy, home of Lucky Luciano, Joe Adonis and other
deported gangsters.

"They seem to think maybe I’m going over there for something other than the reason I’m really going," Cohen said.

In
January 1958, Cohen went to Chicago to work with Hecht on the book.
Earlier that day, Cohen allegedly roughed up a waiter who spilled coffee
on him during an early morning gathering at the Villa Capri, 6735 Yucca St.,
as Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum and several others were celebrating
Sammy Davis Jr.’s opening appearance at the Moulin Rouge.

The
next month, Cohen said he had given up his flower shop to spend all of
his time with Hecht writing the movie version of his life.

The book was nearly finished by March and was
due out in the fall of 1958, at least according to Cohen. "It’ll knock
the blocks off people," Cohen said as he left Los Angeles for Los Cocos
Hotel in La Paz,  Mexico, to spend a week with Hecht on the project.

George
Bieber, Cohen’s attorney, said a studio had offered $200,000
($1,433,056.75 USD 2006) and 80% of the profits but that Cohen wanted
$200,000 and 20% of the gross. Bieber also said the book would bring
Cohen about $500,000 to $750,000 and that 50,000 copies had already
been ordered.

And then everything went off the rails, as happens so often in Hollywood.

In
September 1958, the Saturday Evening Post began a four-part series
titled "Mickey Cohen: The Private Life of a Hood" by freelance writer
Dean Jennings. In October 1958, Cohen sued Curtis Publishing, the
parent company of the Saturday Evening Post, saying that the series
ruined any possibility of publishing his book, but he dropped the suit
in December 1958.

It’s clear from testimony in Cohen’s 1961
tax evasion trial that he was selling interest in the book. Nightclub
owner Bernard "Happy" Koomer said he gave Cohen $15,000 in May 1957 for
a 10% share. Koomer testified that he stopped payment on several checks
and that when he met Cohen, the gangster tore up the checks, threw the
pieces in Koomer’s face and seized a diamond ring given to Koomer as
security. It is interesting to speculate that the book may have been far more
profitable if it remained unpublished–rather like "The Producers."

Apparently whatever remains of the Cohen project is in the 94 cubic feet of
material in the Hecht archives in Chicago. There’s a good dissertation
in there for some historian, I guarantee you.

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