The introduction of sound into film in 1927 made people who could write naturalistic dialogue Hollywood desiderata. Newspaper reporters, accustomed to hitting the pavement in pursuit of a story and parsing an array of social, cultural, and professional argot, followed the lure west to try their hands at screenwriting. Ben Hecht received encouragement from Herman Mankiewicz, who had just left the New York Times for what was billed as a new gold rush. Mankiewicz wired Hecht that “millions are to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots.” As a columnist for theChicago Daily News and a budding novelist, Hecht had established his literary aspirations, which his friend and colleague presumed could be fulfilled after obtaining a well-paying sinecure in La La Land.