Hecht's final released film was adapted from A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s Pulitzer Prize-winning Western novel, "The Way West". The production of "The Way West" marked the end of Hecht's contract with United Artists, which had already spent quite a considerable amount of money on pre-production at that point. The property had originally been purchased by Hecht-Lancaster Productions in late 1953 and Hecht spent fourteen years developing the screenplay under the financial supervision of United Artists. When announced in 1953, United Artists had granted the production unit the largest budget a Western film had ever received, with $5,000,000, advertising costs excluded. By 1959 that budget had been raised to $8,000,000.