In late 1962 Hecht signed a two-picture deal with Columbia Pictures. After a series of projects fell through, Hecht decided to revive an old Hecht-Lancaster Productions property from the mid-1950s, Roy Chanselor's Western novel, "The Ballad of Cat Ballou". As a Hecht-Lancaster Productions project, "Cat Ballou" was originally to be a comedy musical Western film starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis as rival brothers. As early as 1960, Hecht worked on "Cat Ballou" as a solo project and was finally able to secure its production through his Columbia deal.