The Hook is an unproduced screenplay by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was written in 1947 and was intended to be produced by Columbia Pictures Studio, Hollywood, and to be directed by Elia Kazan. The screenplay was inspired by the true story of Pete Panto, a young dockworker who stood up against the corrupt Mafia-connected union leadership. Panto was discovered dead in a pit outside New York eighteen months after his disappearance. Set in the Red Hook district of Brooklyn, The Hook is the story of Marty Ferrara, a longshoreman who is "ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing – his sense of personal dignity."
Contents
History
Kazan and Miller traveled to Los Angeles to pitch the screenplay to Harry Cohn, the notoriously controlling head of production at Columbia Pictures. Marilyn Monroe posed as Kazan's personal assistant by way of a practical joke. (This is referred to in both Miller's and Kazan's autobiographies.) Cohn insisted Miller meet Roy Brewer, Hollywood’s most powerful union leader, who pushed him to portray union corruption as couched in Communism. Cohn insisted that Kazan get Miller to change the screenplay. Miller eventually withdrew the script. He returned home to a telegram from Cohn: "ITS INTERESTING HOW THE MINUTE WE TRY TO MAKE THE SCRIPT PRO-AMERICAN YOU PULL OUT." Within three years, Kazan was in front of the HUAC, naming eight former colleagues as Communists. Miller was called in 1956, convicted of contempt of court and cleared two years later.
Characters
Marty Ferarra, Italian-American longshoreman
Therese Ferrara, Marty's wife, mother of their three children
Irene Ferrara, their eldest child
Mama, Therese’s mother
Barney, longshoreman team leader
Barney's widow
Rocky, the pier boss
Farragut, the union delegate
Phil, the hiring boss
Mr. Hinkle, a business owner
Louie, the union president
Dark Eyes, a man blinded by the mob
Piggy Logan, a longshoreman
Old Dominic, a longshoreman
Little Dominic
Charlie
Foreman
Enzo
Meathead
Sleeper
Sal
Pete
Plot
This synopsis is based on the BBC Radio adaptation.
The drama's opening setting is in a cafeteria filled with longshoremen who are waiting to hear if the man in a beaver cap who is getting instructions over the phone will be putting together a ‘gang’ or team of men for the day’s work. The man in the beaver cap is Barney. He gets instruction to handle the cargo on Pier 71 and starts to put together his gang. Phil hands out the brass counters which entitle each man to a day’s work and pay. When he gets to the last counter, he tosses it in the air so that Charlie and another man have to scrap to get possession of it. Charlie loses out. Mr. Hinkle puts pressure on Phil who then puts pressure on the gang bosses Barney and Marty to finish their work as quickly as possible in order to turn a profit. Barney and Old Dominic are driving the winch. Old Dominic uses the winch wisely, but Rocky takes over, and despite Barney’s efforts to stop him, Rocky works the winch faster and faster, until there is a huge crash. There is a tangle of steel. Beneath the wreckage is Barney’s lifeless body. Charlie asks for his job. Marty is distraught.
At Barney’s funeral, Marty passes around the beaver cap for donations. He lays the cap full of money in Barney’s widow lap. Meanwhile, Louie and Farragut are at the union headquarters. Rocky overhears their conversation. Louie has recently returned from a six-week vacation to Florida. He has missed Barney’s funeral to attend his daughter’s graduation. He takes cash from the union safe. Rocky asks Louie to talk to the ship-owners, to get them to stop putting profits ahead of safety. Louie arrives at the funeral, contributing cash to the beaver cap. He tries to serve as a pallbearer but Marty, filled with indignation and grief does not allow him to touch Barney’s casket. In private, Therese, Marty’s wife reprimands him for his behavior which could jeopardize his chances of future work. Piggy praises him and asks him to take Barney’s place as a leader. Marty leaves, determined to find other work away from the docks. Therese reminds him of the three children they must provide for.
Marty is working in a factory but the work is dull, he does not have a sympathetic foreman, and he misses the docks. He leaves the job and avoids his wife by spending time in the public park. Marty finds Piggy Dolan at Rocky’s place. Rocky is running a book and Piggy has taken up betting on horses because he can only find work one day a week at the docks. Rocky advises Marty to agitate the longshoremen and in return he will support him. Rocky wants to sever links with the mob, to regain a good name, and turn legitimate businessman. However, Marty does not believe it is possible and instead asks Rocky to give him work as a bookie.
Stage adaptation
The screenplay was adapted for the stage by Ron Hutchinson, directed by James Dacre and designed by Patrick Connellan for the Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton. It premiered in June 2015. Dacre remarked that the play was especially relevant because of the increase in zero-hours contracting in the UK following the credit crunch and economic downturn. The play received mostly positive reviews.
Radio adaptation
The Hook was adapted and produced for radio by Lawrence Bowen. It was directed by Adrian Noble. It aired as part of a BBC Radio 4 season of radio adaptations of unproduced screenplays by major authors of the 20th century including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Orson Welles and Ernest Lehman. It featured the voice talents of, amongst others, David Suchet, Eliot Cowen and Tim Piggot-Smith and was broadcast for the first time in October 2015.