Within a day and a half, Hayes arrived at Zanesville, Ohio, where he spent 75 cents on a telegram informing his parents that he was okay. Let me quote two paragraphs from Writing with Hitchcock : Tell me you would’ve done what John Michael Hayes did. Yeah, all you aspiring writers out there think you have it so rough? Tell me you want to be a writer as badly as John Michael Hayes. THAT is how much he wanted to be a writer. He didn’t tell his family he was going either because he knew they would’ve discouraged him. But as soon as John could walk again, he snuck out of his family’s home (while they were away at the movies), left a note, and hitchhiked his way across the country from Worcester, Massachusetts, all the way to Hollywood, California, while hopping on two canes and with only $15 in his pocket. Plus, his family didn’t support his writing career. His time in Hollywood writing for the radio was actually cut short due to a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis, which kept him bed-ridden for months back in Massachusetts. That is not the story of John Michael Hayes. He moved to California where he worked in radio before turning to Hollywood in the early 1950s…” He began as a newspaper reporter before serving in the US Army during the Second World War. He was a good-looking guy! It saddens me greatly how a human life is glanced over in obits in the media, like when they say, as they did in the Times Online, “John Michael Hayes was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1919. I don’t know where I’d place him in the pantheon of all-time great screenwriters, but he holds a very special place in my heart. Hayes has become a model for me in those respects. It was GREAT FUN! Plus, at the end of every John Michael Hayes story, there was always hope. There are very good reasons why Hayes worked with Hitch more than any other screenwriter, because he brought a lightheartedness to some very dark concepts, which is so welcome and enriching to those films. However, the contribution of Hayes is not to be dismissed, particularly when it came to characters and dialogue. Those are all HIS films, and Hayes helped conceive Hitchcock’s vision of those films. Their historic collaboration transformed both of their lives and careers. It’s little known that Hitch was actually struggling at the time when Hayes came along. He was perfect for Hitch, and they met each other at just the right time in both of their careers. There would be no doubt in anyone’s mind after studying Hayes’ work how well Hayes’ style and sensibilities meshed with Hitchcock’s. I started watching many of his post-Hitchcock films, too, most recently Nevada Smith, which was good. I bought the restored Rear Window just so I could see the John Michael Hayes interview (and also hear the film commentary by John Fawell, which was great). The Man Who Knew Too Much can be read here. He is the one screenwriter who has worked more often with Alfred Hitchcock than any other screenwriter, having written the scripts for Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry, and The Man Who Knew Too Much.Īfter reading Steven DeRosa’s Writing with Hitchcock earlier this year, which chronicled the rise and fall of John Michael’s working relationship with Hitch, I have been on a John Michael Hayes kick ever since. Above is a picture of Alfred Hitchcock, Grace Kelly, and John Michael Hayes on the set of To Catch a Thief.įor the record and for those newbies who may not know, John Michael Hayes passed away recently.
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