Before completing their contract at Warner Brothers, Hecht and Lancaster signed a two-picture deal with Columbia Pictures through the Norma Productions subsidiary, Halburt Productions. The two moderate-budget Columbia films were shot back-to-back at Columbia Studios and marked the beginning of a professional relationship between Hecht, Lancaster and Robert Aldrich, who was Hecht's assistant producer at the studio. Halburt Productions' first film, "Ten Tall Men" (released in late 1951) was another Technicolor adventure flick about the French Foreign Legion during the Rif War in Morocco. It was written and directed by Willis Goldbeck, co-written by Roland Kibbee and starred Lancaster, Jody Lawrance and Gilbert Roland. It also featured memorable parts by character actors George Tobias, Nick Dennis, Mike Mazurki and Robert Clary. But the real turning point was when Columbia allowed Hecht and Lancaster to produce their first film without Lancaster acting in it. "The First Time" (released in early 1952) was a comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin starring Robert Cummings and Barbara Hale, based on a short story by Hugo Butler and Jean Rouverol as first-time parents.