Immediately after filming wrapped on "The Young Savages", Hecht and Lancaster started filming their next project. "Birdman of Alcatraz" was once again financed by United Artists, as part of the recoup deal. The biopic was a romanticized depiction of Robert Stroud, a life-sentenced murderer who taught himself ornithology while confined in prison, and who became an authority on bird medicine. Stroud authored a series of books on the subject and gained enough recognition that a biography of his life was accounted by Thomas E. Gaddis. Gaddis' novel was first optioned by Twentieth Century-Fox in the late 1950s but the project was strongly opposed by the prison system which did not want to dignify the public's perception of the criminal. In 1960 Hecht and Lancaster purchased the film rights and hired Guy Trosper, an Academy Award nominee, to write the screenplay. Filming began on location in San Francisco in the summer of 1960, with British director Charles Crichton. But due to disagreements with Lancaster, Crichton was fired after a mere week of shooting. Hecht and Lancaster approached Frankenheimer to take over as director. No fewer that four film editors were hired and then fired. The rough cut ran four hours. Finally, when shooting wrapped, Lancaster personally supervised the editing. The result was an acclaimed and Academy-nominated performance for his acting.