The Front Page: From Theater to Reality (The Art of Theater Series)
From the introduction by Jed Harris..."..here is a play which reflects miraculously the real as well as the  literary personalities of the playwrights. Every line of it glows with a  demoniacal humor, sordid, insolent and mischievous to the point of down  right perversity, in which one instantly recognizes the heroic comic spirit  of its authors.Both Hecht and MacArthur owe their literary origins to the newspapers of  Chicago. Famous crime reporters, their talents were first cradled in the  recounting of great exploits in arson, rape, murder, gang war and municipal  politics. Out of a welter of jail breaks, hangings, floods and whore-house  raidings, they have gathered the rich, savory characters who disport  themselves on the stage to Times Square Theatre.And though they would be the last to acknowledge it, because they are  terrified of the word "charm", they have nevertheless written "The Front  Page" with a more innocent and unsynthetic charm than I have ever  found..."