His follow-up films, "The Diary of a Chambermaid" (1946), "The Beginning or the End" (1947), and "The Unsuspected" (1947), were successful, but "Joan of Arc" (1948) was a critical and financial failure. Hatfield's film career began to lose momentum very quickly in the 1950s, and he returned to the stage. His subsequent movies included supporting roles in "The Left Handed Gun" (1958), "King of Kings" (as Pontius Pilate) (1961), "El Cid" (1961), "Harlow" (1965) (as Paul Bern), and "The Boston Strangler" (1968). He cut back on performing in the 1970s. His later movies included "King David" (1985) and "Her Alibi" (1989).