After "The Way West", Hecht continued working on a great many film projects and never retired from his profession. The next film he developed was "The Comic", his second of the two-picture contract at Columbia Pictures. Adapted from the original story "Baggy Pants" by Walter Newman, "The Comic" was first adapted by the author in late 1965. The story dealt with a silent screen star, his rise to fame and his downfall. In the summer of 1967 Hecht approached Dick Van Dyke to star in the film and Carl Reiner to direct and co-produce it. With them on board "The Comic" became a joint venture between Harold Hecht Productions, Van Dyke's DFI Productions and Reiner's Acre Enterprises. Later that summer Hecht screen-tested May 1967 Playboy Playmate of the Month model, Anne Randall, for the female lead. Reiner, Van Dyke and screenwriter Aaron Ruben re-wrote the screenplay considerably over the next year and by the summer of 1968, Hecht was out of the picture. The film was eventually released in late 1969, strictly as a Reiner production, and it is currently unknown if any of Hecht's contributions remained in the final version of the film.