He went on to direct Jane Powell and Gordon MacRae in "Three Sailors and a Girl" (1953), He then took a short excursion into the initially short-lived 3D process with a horror film starring Karl Malden "Phantom of the Rue Morgue" (1954). Away from the director's chair for the next five years, Del Ruth returned to helm the horror picture "The Alligator People" (1959), a bizarre tale about humans being partially transformed into alligators in the Deep South. After his film "Why Must I Die?" (1960), Del Ruth retired.