View source for Jules Dassin

{{Short description|American film director (1911–2008)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Jules Dassin
| image         = Jules Dassin 1970.jpg
| caption       = Dassin in 1970
| birth_name    = Julius Dassin
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1911|12|18}}
| birth_place   = [[Middletown, Connecticut]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2008|3|31|1911|12|18}}
| death_place   = [[Athens]], Greece
| resting_place = [[First Cemetery of Athens]]
| occupation    = {{hlist|Director|producer|writer|actor}}
| spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Beatrice Launer|1933|1962|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Melina Mercouri]]|1966|1994|end=died}}
}}
| children      = 3, including [[Joe Dassin]]
}}

'''Julius''' "'''Jules'''" '''Dassin''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|æ|s|ɪ|n|,_|d|æ|ˈ|s|ɪ|n}} {{respell|DASS|in|,_|dass|IN}}; December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the [[Hollywood blacklist]], he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, where he continued his career. He was a member of the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] and the [[Screen Directors Guild|Screen Directors' Guild]].<ref name="Motion Picture Herald-1943" /><ref name="HUAC-1951" />

Dassin received a Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his film [[Rififi|''Du rififi chez les hommes'']]. He was later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen for his film ''[[Never on Sunday]]'', and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his Broadway production of ''[[Illya Darling]]''.

== Biography ==
===Early life===
Julius Dassin was born in [[Middletown, Connecticut]], on December 18, 1911, to Bertha ({{née|Vogel}}) and Samuel Dassin, a barber.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Miami News from Miami, Florida on July 6, 1942 · 13|date=July 6, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/297377774/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="MGM-1944">{{Cite book|last=Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|url=http://archive.org/details/whoswhoatmetrogo00metr_1|title=Who's Who at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1944)|date=1944|publisher=Culver City, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|others=Media History Digital Library}}</ref> His parents were both Jewish immigrants from [[Odesa]], [[Russian Empire]] (present-day [[Ukraine]]).<ref>David B. Green, [https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/1911-director-who-paris-adored-is-born-1.5378392 This Day in Jewish History 1911: Blacklisted Director Who Became the Toast of Paris Is Born], [[Haaretz]], December 18, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref><ref name="MGM-1944" /> Julius had seven siblings, including four brothers, Louis C., Benjamin, Irving and Edward; and three sisters.<ref name="MGM-1944" />

In 1915, when Julius was three years old, the Dassin family moved to Harlem, New York.<ref name="MGM-1944" /> He attended public grammar school where he received his first acting role in a school play.<ref name="MGM-1944" /> Julius was given a small part but when came time to speak his only line, he fainted due to stage fright.<ref name="MGM-1944" /> He also learned to play the piano at a young age.<ref name="Pittsburgh Press-1943">{{Cite web|title=The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 10, 1943 · Page 34|date=December 10, 1943 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/148017831/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> During his youth he attended [[Camp Kinderland]], a left-wing Yiddish youth camp.

Julius attended [[Morris High School (Bronx)|Morris High School]] in the [[Bronx]].<ref name="MGM-1944" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/filmdaily92wids|title=The Film Daily (Jul–Sep 1947)|date=1947|publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref> He started acting professionally in 1926, at the age of fourteen, with the [[Yiddish Art Theatre]] in New York City.<ref name="LA Times-1940">{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on September 23, 1940 · 33|date=September 23, 1940 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/385521325/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> On October 13, 1929, newspaper columnist [[Mark Hellinger]] printed a story given to him by Dassin in the ''[[New York Daily News]]''; nearly twenty years later, the two would work together in Hollywood.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from New York, New York on October 13, 1929 · 67|date=October 13, 1929 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/413130099/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

On July 11, 1933, Julius' older brother Louis was arrested in Meriden, Connecticut when he confessed to the theft of $12,000 from the Puritan Bank and Trust Company, where he worked as a teller and treasurer.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut on July 10, 1933 · 1|date=July 10, 1933 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/370133434/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> On September 10, 1933, when he was 21 years old, Julius married Beatrice Launer, a concert violinist and a graduate of the [[Juilliard School of Music]].<ref name="Juilliard-2010" /><ref name="MGM-1944" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=September 10, 1933|title=Beatrice Launer and Jules Dassen Marriage|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=9105&h=4764737&indiv=try&o_cvc=Image:OtherRecord|access-date=December 1, 2021|website=ancestry.ca}}</ref>

Beginning in 1934, Julius spent three years studying dramatic technique in Europe.<ref name="MGM-1944" /> He spent time in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, England, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, Switzerland and Greece, working odd jobs to sustain himself.<ref name="MGM-1944" /><ref name="Saturday Evening Post-1947">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/sim_holiday_1947-10_2_10|title=Holiday 1947-10: Vol 2 Iss 10|date=1947|publisher=Saturday Evening Post Society|language=English}}</ref>

=== New York theatre and radio career ===
After returning from Europe in 1936, Dassin joined the Children's Theatre, a division of the [[Federal Theatre Project]] during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="The Cincinnati Enquirer-1936">{{Cite web|title=The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio on September 6, 1936 · Page 41|date=September 6, 1936 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/103052837/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="MGM-1944" /> It was during this time that he joined the [[Communist Party USA]] (CPUSA). The troupe put on children's plays at the [[Adelphi Theatre (New York City)|Adelphi Theatre]] in New York City. During this time, he played the role of Zar in ''[[The Emperor's New Clothes]]'' in September 1936,<ref name="The Cincinnati Enquirer-1936" /> and the role of Oakleaf in ''[[Revolt of the Beavers]]'', which ran from May 20, 1937, to June 19, 1937.<ref name="Brooklyn Citizen-1937">{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on May 21, 1937 · 14|date=May 21, 1937 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/543950672/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=October 19, 2012|title=The Revolt of the Beavers – IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information|url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?ID=12245|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019161650/http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?ID=12245|archive-date=October 19, 2012|accessdate=June 24, 2018}}</ref> The later play was criticized as strongly communist.<ref name="Brooklyn Citizen-1937" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Prime|first=Rebecca|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHlMAgAAQBAJ|title=Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture|date=January 14, 2014|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-7086-0|language=en}}</ref>

He later joined up with the Artef Players, a [[Yiddish theatre|Yiddish Proletarian Theater]] company in 1937, serving as an actor, set designer, set builder, stage director and even ticket salesman.<ref name="Fort Worth Star-1942a">{{Cite web|title=Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas on April 24, 1942 · 5|date=April 24, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/636451799/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="MGM-1944" /> Beginning on October 5, 1937, he appeared in Moyshe Kulbak's play ''The Outlaw'', which had been adapted by Chaver Paver at The Artef Theatre<ref name="MGM-1944" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=October 6, 1937|title=THE OUTLAW' GIVEN BY ARTEF PLAYERS; New Quarters of Group, Once Daly's Theatre, Inaugurated With Lyrical Drama|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/10/06/archives/the-outlaw-given-by-artef-players-new-quarters-of-group-once-dalys.html|access-date=November 30, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from New York, New York on September 24, 1937 · 133|date=September 24, 1937 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/415602821/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> He also appeared in Artef Players' ''Recruits'' and ''200,000''.<ref name="MGM-1944" /> On November 5, 1938, Dassin's wife Beatrice gave birth to their first child, son [[Joe Dassin|Joseph]]. In October 1939, he acted in Chaver Paver's ''Clinton Street'', which was staged at the Mercury Theatre, after [[Orson Welles]]' troupe had left for Hollywood and the [[Radio-Keith-Orpheum]] circuit.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from New York, New York on October 14, 1939 · 22|date=October 14, 1939 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/430102567/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Since the pay was poor with Artef Players, Dassin formed a theatre troupe to tour the [[Borscht Circuit]] in the Catskills as summer stock.<ref name="Oakland Tribune-1943">{{Cite web|title=Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California on May 2, 1943 · Page 28|date=May 2, 1943 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/153929623/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="MGM-1944" />

Dassin acted in a movie scripted and directed by [[Jack Skurnick]], which was shown to a small group at a space that Skurnick rented in New York but was never exhibited beyond that.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Oscar Directors: Dassin, Jules–Background, Career, Awards, Filmography|url=https://emanuellevy.com/oscar/oscar-directors-dassin-jules-background-career-awards-filmography/|website=Emanuellevy.com|date=August 26, 2020 |accessdate=January 28, 2021}}</ref>

He then wrote sketches for radio, at times directing his own radio plays, and became a stage director and producer.<ref name="Film Daily-1940">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/filmdail77wids|title=The Film Daily (Apr–Jun 1940)|date=April 1940|publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref name="Boxoffice-1940">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/boxofficeaprjun13637unse|title=Boxoffice (Apr–Jun 1940)|date=1940|publisher=Kansas City, Associated Publications|via=Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref name="Lansing State Journal-1942">{{Cite web|title=Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan on November 24, 1942 · Page 10|date=November 24, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/206119314/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Oakland Tribune-1943" /> In April 1939, Dassin adapted [[Nikolai Gogol|Nicolai Gogol]]'s story ''[[The Overcoat]]'' for the [[CBS]] variety program ''[[The Kate Smith Hour]]'', which starred [[Burgess Meredith]] and was broadcast live on April 20, 1939.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Evening Sun from Hanover, Pennsylvania on April 18, 1939 · Page 7|date=April 18, 1939 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/48606743/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Miami News from Miami, Florida on April 20, 1939 · 10|date=April 20, 1939 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/298579779/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> In early 1940, Dassin staged and directed the play ''Medicine Show'' for producer [[Martin Gabel]], starring [[Isabel Bonner]], [[Philip Bourneuf]] and [[Norman Lloyd]].<ref name="IMDB-2021b">{{Cite web|title=Medicine Show – Broadway Play – Original {{!}} IBDB|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/medicine-show-13251|access-date=November 28, 2021|website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on March 12, 1940 · Page 9|date=March 12, 1940 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52681727/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Although it was well received by critics,<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/sim_forum-and-century_1940-06_103_6|title=Forum and Century 1940-06: Vol 103 Iss 6|date=June 1940|publisher=Open Court Publishing Co|language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/sim_commonweal_1940-04-26_32_1|title=The Commonweal 1940-04-26: Vol 32 Iss 1|date=April 26, 1940|publisher=Commonweal Foundation|language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=from on April 13, 1940 · Page 18|date=April 13, 1940 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52775906/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on April 13, 1940 · 8|date=April 13, 1940 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/543595356/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> ''Medicine Show'' only ran for 35 performances at the New Yorker Theatre, from April 12, 1940, to May 11, 1940.<ref name="IMDB-2021b" />

===Working in Hollywood===

==== RKO Radio Pictures (1940) ====
In June 1940, Dassin was signed to a term contract with Hollywood film studio [[RKO Radio Pictures]] as a director.<ref name="Film Daily-1940" /><ref name="Boxoffice-1940" /> He was immediately assigned as an assistant director to learn the motion picture business, working under [[Garson Kanin]] on [[They Knew What They Wanted (film)|''They Knew What They Wanted'']] (1940)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey on August 8, 1942 · 8|date=August 8, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/480821866/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Miller-2008">{{Cite web|last=Miller|first=Stephen|date=April 1, 2008|title=Jules Dassin, 96, Expatriate Film Director|url=https://www.nysun.com/obituaries/jules-dassin-96-expatriate-film-director/73986/|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=[[The New York Sun]]|archive-date=November 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127113730/https://www.nysun.com/obituaries/jules-dassin-96-expatriate-film-director/73986/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Alfred Hitchcock]] on [[Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film)|''Mr. and Mrs. Smith'']] (1941), both starring [[Carole Lombard]] and both under the supervision of producer Harry E. Edington.<ref name="LA Times-1940" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York on September 27, 1940 · 25|date=September 27, 1940 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/710589318/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Fort Worth Star-1942a" /><ref name="MGM-1944" /> During the filming of ''Mr. and Mrs. Smith'', Dassin's wife Beatrice gave birth to their second child, daughter Richelle.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa on December 24, 1940 · Page 6|date=December 24, 1940 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/129485209/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle from Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 11, 1940 · Page 7|date=October 11, 1940 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/49946151/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> By January 1941, after six months without a proper directorial job, Dassin was released from his RKO Radio Pictures contract.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/boxofficejanmar138unse|title=Boxoffice (Jan–Mar 1941)|date=1941|publisher=Kansas City, Associated Publications|via=Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Chico Record from Chico, California on August 14, 1942 · 2|date=August 14, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/679030033/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

Dassin returned to radio work in Hollywood, presenting his previously adapted Gogol story ''The Overcoat'' for a repeat performance on ''The Kate Smith Hour'', this time starring [[Henry Hull]], which was broadcast live on January 3, 1941.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chattanooga Daily Times from Chattanooga, Tennessee on January 3, 1941 · 23|date=January 3, 1941 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/604621798/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Harrisburg Telegraph from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on January 3, 1941 · Page 17|date=January 3, 1941 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/43160482/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from New York, New York on January 4, 1941 · 195|date=January 4, 1941 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/432564767/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> He was also one of the several actors who formed the [[Actors' Laboratory Theatre]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/CominfilMotionPictureIndustryCOMPICHQ1|title=Cominfil Motion Picture Industry COMPIC HQ 1|language=English}}</ref>

==== Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and loan-out to Eagle-Lion Films (1941–1946) ====
Wanting to prove that he could direct motion pictures, Dassin approached [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] in the spring of 1941 offering his services for free.<ref name="Lansing State Journal-1942" /> He told the studio that he would direct any film for free; the studio instead offered to pay him to direct a short film.<ref name="Lansing State Journal-1942" /> Dassin made his directorial debut with a short film of [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s ''[[The Tell-Tale Heart (1941 film)|The Tell-Tale Heart]]''.<ref name="Harrisburg Courier-1941">{{Cite web|title=Harrisburg Sunday Courier from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on June 15, 1941 · Page 4|date=June 15, 1941 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/88256013/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="YouTube-2021b">{{Citation|title=French TV Interview Jules Dassin with subtitles| date=May 20, 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPbTH39Zl9I|language=en|access-date=November 27, 2021}}</ref> Filmed in June 1941 and released on October 25, 1941,<ref name="Harrisburg Courier-1941" /> the success of the picture led to his hasty promotion as a feature film director and the signing of an exclusive five-year contract in early November 1941.<ref>{{cite book | last = Katz | first = Ephraim | title = The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia | publisher = Macmillan | location = New York | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-333-74037-8 |oclc=39216574 |edition=3rd |page=333}}</ref><ref name="Miller-2008" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai50unse_0|title=Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1941)|date=October 1941|publisher=New York [Motion picture daily, inc.]|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from Los Angeles, California on November 6, 1941 · 22|date=November 6, 1941 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/689198497/|access-date=November 28, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Dassin was promoted from the short story department to the feature film department by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the same time as [[Fred Zinnemann]] and [[Fred M. Wilcox (director)|Fred Wilcox]].<ref name="Motion Picture Herald-1941">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpictureher145unse|title=Motion Picture Herald|date=November 1941|publisher=Quigley Publishing Co.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/filmdail80wids|title=The Film Daily (Oct–Dec 1941)|date=October 1941|publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref>

His feature film debut at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the low-budget spy thriller ''[[Nazi Agent]]'' (originally announced under the titles ''Salute to Courage'', ''House of Spies'' and ''Out of the Past''), under the supervision of producer [[Irving Asher]] and starring [[Conrad Veidt]], in the dual roles of twin brothers, and [[Ann Ayars]].<ref name="Motion Picture Herald-1941" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Film Bulletin Company |url=http://archive.org/details/filmbulletin194108film |title=Film Bulletin (1941) |date=1941|publisher=New York, Film Bulletin Company |others=New York The Museum of Modern Art Library}}</ref><ref name="Fort Worth Star-1942b">{{Cite web|title=Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas on May 20, 1942 · 5|date=May 20, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/635943508/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Released in early 1942, the film received immediate critical acclaim and was a box office success, with Dassin being compared to Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock.<ref name="Fort Worth Star-1942a" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Capital Journal from Salem, Oregon on February 7, 1942 · Page 3|date=February 7, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/95817079/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana on May 3, 1942 · 27|date=May 3, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/513928586/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Fort Worth Star-1942b" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 11, 1942 · Page 17|date=June 11, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/171452723/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

Dassin followed with the romantic comedy ''[[The Affairs of Martha]]'' (originally announced under the title ''Once Upon a Thursday''),<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on March 12, 1942 · 10|date=March 12, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/543652725/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia on June 28, 1942 · 33|date=June 28, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/384680063/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> starring [[Marsha Hunt (actress, born 1917)|Marsha Hunt]] and [[Richard Carlson (actor)|Richard Carlson]], and under the supervision of producer [[Irving Starr]]. The film was made in early 1942 on a limited budget.<ref name="IMDb-2021a">{{Cite web|title=Jules Dassin|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0202088/|access-date=November 27, 2021|publisher=IMDb}}</ref><ref name="Salt Lake Tribune-1942">{{Cite web|title=The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah on July 19, 1942 · 51|date=July 19, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/599024551/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> When released in mid-1942, the film was a moderate success and again Dassin was highlighted in the reviews.<ref name="Salt Lake Tribune-1942" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah on July 21, 1942 · 17|date=July 21, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/599025063/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Evening Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on August 6, 1942 · 27|date=August 6, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/369629340/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

In mid-February 1942, it was reported that Dassin would direct a film titled ''Men at Sea'' from a [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] story by Alma Rivkin (possibly a typo for [[Allen Rivkin]]) starring [[Philip Dorn]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/filmdaily81wids|title=The Film Daily (Jan–Mar 1942)|date=1942|publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref> The film was presumably abandoned. In April 1942, it was reported that Dassin would be one of eight directors, along with Fred Zinnemann, Fred Wilcox, [[Charles Lederer]], [[Edward L. Cahn|Edward Cahn]], [[Joseph M. Newman]] and [[David Miller (director)|David Miller]], to film a sequence for a planned patriotic [[Anthology film|anthology]] film at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer titled ''Now We Are 21''.<ref name="LA Times-1942">{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on April 29, 1942 · 14|date=April 29, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380758815/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The film was to be produced by [[B. F. Zeidman]] and scripted by [[Peter Ruric]] from a story by Jerry Schwartz.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety146-1942-05|title=Variety (May 1942)|date=1942|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref> Actors such as [[Gene Kelly]], [[Ray McDonald (dancer)|Ray McDonald]], [[Virginia O'Brien]], [[James Warren (actor)|James Warren]], Tatricia Dane, Johnny Davis and Barry Wilson were to appear in the film, but it was never made.<ref name="LA Times-1942" />

[[Joan Crawford]], one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's biggest stars at the time, watched a private screening of ''Nazi Agent'', after which she rushed to Louis B. Mayer's office insisting that Dassin direct her upcoming World War II drama [[Vehicle (film)|vehicle]], ''[[Reunion in France]]'' (originally announced simply as ''Reunion'').<ref name="Daily News LA-1942a">{{Cite web|title=Daily News from Los Angeles, California on May 20, 1942 · 20|date=May 20, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/689207415/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The picture was being produced by [[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]] and was to co-star [[Philip Dorn]] and [[John Wayne]]''.''<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on June 15, 1942 · 7|date=June 15, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/543924644/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Crawford also requested that Ann Ayars, who co-starred in ''Nazi Agent'', be given the second female lead in her film.<ref name="Daily News LA-1942b">{{Cite web|title=Daily News from Los Angeles, California on June 23, 1942 · 22|date=June 23, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/689280614/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Dassin was notified of this new assignment on May 19, 1942, and the press reported that he had been promoted to become an "A movie" director.''<ref name="Daily News LA-1942a" /><ref name="Daily News LA-1942b" />''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Salt Lake Telegram from Salt Lake City, Utah on July 4, 1942 · 12|date=July 4, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/289184905/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/sim_photoplay_1942-09_21_4|title=Photoplay Combined with Movie Mirror 1942-09: Vol 21 Iss 4|date=September 1942|publisher=MacFadden Publishing Inc.|language=English}}</ref> On the first day of shooting, Dassin yelled "cut" while Crawford was performing, which deeply upset the actress and led her to rush into Mayer's office.<ref name="YouTube-2021b" /> Dassin was called into Mayer's office and told that his career as a film director was over.<ref name="YouTube-2021b" /> To his surprise, Crawford invited the young director to have dinner at her house later that night and the two became dear friends; the next day, Dassin resumed his directorial duty on the film.<ref name="YouTube-2021b" /> The film opened to theatres in December 1942 but received mixed opinions from critics who found its pace too slow.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on December 20, 1942 · 60|date=December 20, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/447966768/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety148-1942-12|title=Variety (December 1942)|date=1942|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lewis|first=Charles E.|url=http://archive.org/details/showmenstraderev37lewi|title=Showmen's Trade Review (Oct–Dec 1942)|date=October 1942|publisher=Showmen's Trade Review, Inc.|others=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 9, 1943 · 8|date=January 9, 1943 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/523827293/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on March 5, 1943 · 24|date=March 5, 1943 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380833447/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

After completing ''Reunion in France'', it was reported that Dassin received a leave of absence from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to act in a stage production of [[William Shakespeare]]'s [[Richard III (play)|''Richard III'']] on Broadway.<ref name="Ogden Standard-1942">{{Cite web|title=The Ogden Standard-Examiner from Ogden, Utah on September 14, 1942 · 9|date=September 14, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/597200115/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The play was to be directed by and starring [[John Carradine]], though it is unknown if this production came through.<ref name="Ogden Standard-1942" /> Dassin was also employed by [[Frank Tuttle]] as one of the lecturers for Hollywood School for Writers' new film directing class, along with Fred Zinnemann, [[Irving Pichel]] and [[László Benedek]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on October 8, 1942 · 38|date=October 8, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380800705/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

In mid-November 1942, he was assigned to direct another romantic comedy, ''[[Young Ideas]]'' (originally announced as ''Faculty Row''), under the supervision of producer [[Robert Sisk]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on November 20, 1942 · 48|date=November 20, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380795181/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Brooklyn Citizen-1942">{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on December 12, 1942 · 10|date=December 12, 1942 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/543586667/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The film was shot from mid-December 1942 to early 1943 and starred [[Susan Peters]], [[Herbert Marshall]] and [[Mary Astor]].<ref name="Brooklyn Citizen-1942" /> The film was released in the summer of 1943 and received favorable reviews as a light comedy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from New York, New York on October 1, 1943 · 592|date=October 1943 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/435616123/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> In March 1943, Dassin joined the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]].<ref name="Motion Picture Herald-1943">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/motionpictureher1501unse|title=Motion Picture Herald|date=March 1943|publisher=Quigley Publishing Co.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety150-1943-04|title=Variety (April 1943)|date=1943|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref>

In September 1943, after several months without a project, Dassin took over the directorial duties on a comedy film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's [[The Canterville Ghost (1944 film)|''The Canterville Ghost'']].<ref name="Variety-1943">{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety151-1943-09|title=Variety (September 1943)|date=1943|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref> Original director [[Norman Z. McLeod]] had departed after five weeks of shooting, following a clash with producer Arthur Field and the cast, which included [[Charles Laughton]], [[Robert Young (actor)|Robert Young]] and [[Margaret O'Brien]].<ref name="Variety-1943" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from New York, New York on October 19, 1943 · 210|date=October 19, 1943 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/435740767/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The film finished shooting in December 1943 and was released in the summer of 1944.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 20, 1944 · Page 19|date=July 20, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/172176070/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Between the filming of scenes, Laughton often asked Dassin to play Russian classical songs on the piano, of which both were fond.<ref name="Pittsburgh Press-1943" /> ''The Canterville Ghost'' was very well received by critics and won a Retro [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on July 23, 1944 · Page 24|date=July 23, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/54499902/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=1945 Retro-Hugo Awards |date=April 7, 2020 |url=https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1945-retro-hugo-awards/|access-date=August 10, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on August 24, 1944 · 12|date=August 24, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/373851353/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Council Bluffs Nonpareil from Council Bluffs, Iowa on September 17, 1944 · Page 8|date=September 17, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37680862/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

In January 1944, producer [[Edwin H. Knopf]] selected Dassin to direct the suspense drama ''Secrets in the Dark'' (originally announced as ''Strangers in the Dark'' and ''The Outward Room'').<ref name="Waterloo Courier-1944">{{Cite web|title=The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa on January 6, 1944 · 14|date=January 6, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/357757553/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The motion picture was based on [[Millen Brand]]'s novel ''The Outward Room'' and from the existing play version ''The World We Make'', which had been adapted by [[Sidney Kingsley]].<ref name="Waterloo Courier-1944" /><ref name="Harrisburg Telegraph-1944">{{Cite web|title=Harrisburg Telegraph from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on February 18, 1944 · Page 12|date=February 18, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/43579203/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The plot was that of a middle-class girl who escapes from an insane asylum and develops a love affair with a blue collar steel worker, and in turn overcomes her phobias.<ref name="Waterloo Courier-1944" /><ref name="Tacoma News Tribune-1944">{{Cite web|title=The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington on March 16, 1944 · 10|date=March 16, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/733599871/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Motion Picture Herald-1944">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/motionpictureher1541unse|title=Motion Picture Herald|date=1944|publisher=Quigley Publishing Co.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref> The property was developed as a starring vehicle for [[Susan Peters]], newly promoted Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starlet.<ref name="Waterloo Courier-1944" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey on January 28, 1944 · 15|date=January 28, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/488963789/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on January 5, 1944 · 6|date=January 5, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/683829318/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> [[Gene Kelly]] was first cast as the male lead in January 1944,<ref name="Film Daily-1944">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/filmdaily85wids|title=The Film Daily (Jan–Mar 1944)|date=1944|publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 17, 1944 · Page 22|date=January 17, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/90010689/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> though he was replaced by Robert Young in February 1944.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Deseret News from Salt Lake City, Utah on February 16, 1944 · 6|date=February 16, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/595264855/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Film Daily-1944" /> Other cast members included [[Fortunio Bonanova|Fortunio Bononova]], [[Katharine Balfour]], [[Felix Bressart]], [[Alexander Granach]], [[Peggy Maley]], [[Marta Linden]], [[Morris Ankrum]], Sharon McManus and Betty Lawler.<ref>{{Cite web|title=North Hollywood Valley Times from North Hollywood, California on January 17, 1944 · 9|date=January 17, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/580750836/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on February 8, 1944 · 11|date=February 8, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380691736/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Motion Picture Herald-1944" />

''Secrets in the Dark'' was to start shooting on February 20, 1944, with cinematographer [[Robert H. Planck|Robert Planck]], but was pushed back to early March 1944 due to production delays.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/filmdaily85wids|title=The Film Daily (Jan–Mar 1944)|date=1944|publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Evening Vanguard from Venice, California on March 3, 1944 · 7|date=March 3, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/700635718/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Motion Picture Daily-1944">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai55unse|title=Motion Picture Daily (Jan–Mar 1944)|date=1944|publisher=New York [Motion picture daily, inc.]|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref> On April 1, 1944, Peters was admitted into Santa Monica Hospital for abdominal pain and underwent major surgery.<ref name="SF Examiner-1944">{{Cite web|title=The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California on April 6, 1944 · 12|date=April 6, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/458582094/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Her recovery took several months, postponing the films' production indefinitely.<ref name="SF Examiner-1944" /><ref name="Piqua Daily Call-1944">{{Cite web|title=The Piqua Daily Call from Piqua, Ohio on April 6, 1944 · Page 1|date=April 6, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/45741132/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Reports varied as to how much footage was shot; some reported as little as ten-day of filming, while others stated that the film was nearly completed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Morning Post from Camden, New Jersey on April 29, 1944 · 15|date=April 29, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/447711537/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Piqua Daily Call-1944" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Press Democrat from Santa Rosa, California on May 13, 1944 · 8|date=May 13, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/265220160/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> By the time that Peters had recovered in the summer of 1944, Dassin was on a voluntary leave from the studio, so Peters was instead assigned to ''[[Keep Your Powder Dry]]'' (originally announced as ''Women in Uniform'') for director [[Edward Buzzell]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 25, 1944 · Page 22|date=August 25, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/90033404/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa on May 22, 1944 · 7|date=May 22, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/357665224/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> When Dassin finally returned to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in mid-1945, Peters had undergone another series of surgeries (due to an accidental shotgun discharge on January 1, 1945), which put her in a wheelchair.<ref name="Courier-1947">{{Cite web|title=The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky on September 7, 1947 · Page 57|date=September 7, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/108401538/|access-date=December 1, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Peter's character in ''Secrets in the Dark'' was to be rewritten as a paraplegic, but the film was instead permanently shelved.<ref name="Courier-1947" />

When ''Secrets in the Dark'' was first postponed in early April 1944, Dassin started acting in night plays at the Actors' Laboratory Theatre as part of the War Charities benefits.<ref>{{Cite web|title=St. Albans Daily Messenger from St. Albans, Vermont on April 4, 1944 · 6|date=April 4, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/659852520/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The first play in which he acted was ''Night Lodging'', followed by ''[[The Lower Depths]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Evening Star-News from Culver City, California on April 5, 1944 · 2|date=April 5, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/700623013/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on April 10, 1944 · 7|date=April 10, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/683783796/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> In May 1944, Dassin teamed up with [[Arthur Lubin]] to set up the Soldier Shows Stock Company, a project to put on plays featuring wounded war veterans at [[Torney General Hospital]] in Palm Springs, California.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California on June 16, 1944 · 7|date=June 16, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/747267446/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California on June 23, 1944 · 7|date=June 23, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/747267477/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

In June 1944, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced that Dassin had been assigned to direct the company's 20th Anniversary film, ''Some of the Best''.<ref name="Variety-1944">{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety154-1944-06|title=Variety (June 1944)|date=1944|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref> The five-reel picture was to include excerpts from prior Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films, spanning 1924–1943, along with wrap-around pieces starring [[Lewis Stone]].<ref name="Variety-1944" /> Dassin, however, became weary of his directorial duties at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and asked [[Louis B. Mayer]] to be released from his exclusive contract.<ref name="YouTube-2021b" /> Mayer sternly refused, even after Dassin offered to sign a promissory document that he would never work for a rival Hollywood studio.<ref name="YouTube-2021b" /> In a later interview conducted in December 1946, Dassin revealed that he was ashamed of some of the directorial duties he was forced to accept while at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.<ref name="LA Daily News-1947">{{Cite web|title=Daily News from Los Angeles, California on April 9, 1947 · 25|date=April 9, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/689291219/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Dassin had hoped to return to work on the New York stage but instead took a thirteen-month voluntary hiatus from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, filling his time by reading books on the beach and working on local plays.<ref name="YouTube-2021b" /> On July 30, 1944, Dassin's wife Beatrice gave birth to their third child, daughter Julie.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Evening Star-News from Culver City, California on July 31, 1944 · 3|date=July 31, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/700703225/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

In November 1944, actor [[Ralph Bellamy]] approached Dassin to direct ''The Democrats'', a play he was producing on Broadway.<ref name="Brooklyn Citizen-1944">{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on November 9, 1944 · 10|date=November 9, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/541720300/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 13, 1944 · Page 22|date=November 13, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/90010099/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> ''The Democrats'' was written by Melvin Levy and was to co-star [[Frances Dee]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lewis|first=Charles E.|url=http://archive.org/details/showmenstraderev41lewi|title=Showmen's Trade Review (Oct–Dec 1944)|date=1944|publisher=Showmen's Trade Review, Inc.|others=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref name="Daily News LA-1944">{{Cite web|title=Daily News from Los Angeles, California on November 27, 1944 · 11|date=November 27, 1944 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/689228798/|access-date=November 30, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Although the production received good publicity throughout the month of November 1944, it would appear that it never came to fruition, perhaps because Dassin was unable to receive a leave of absence from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.<ref name="Daily News LA-1944" /><ref name="Brooklyn Citizen-1944" />

In December 1944, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer assigned Dassin to direct the crime-mystery film ''[[Dangerous Partners]]'' (originally announced as ''Paper Chase'') for producer Arthur Field.<ref name="Variety-1945">{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety157-1945-01|title=Variety (January 1945)|date=1945|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref> Dassin took over the directorial duties from Fred Zinnemann (who was then suspended from Metro-Goldywn-Mayer for refusing to finish the picture), and had anticipated casting Susan Peters in the lead.<ref name="Variety-1945" /> But when Peters suffered a gun shot wound accident on January 1, 1945, Dassin pulled out of the project.<ref name="Variety-1945" /> Director Edward Cahn was ultimately hired for the job and recast the female lead role with [[Signe Hasso]], successfully completing the picture.<ref name="Variety-1945" />

Returning to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in May 1945, after thirteen months away from cameras, Dassin was assigned to direct the romantic comedy film ''[[A Letter for Evie]]'' for producer William H. Wright.<ref name="Venice Evening Vanguard-1945a">{{Cite web|title=Evening Vanguard from Venice, California on May 29, 1945 · 3|date=May 29, 1945 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/700707665/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/boxofficeaprjun14647unse|title=Boxoffice (Apr–Jun 1945)|date=1945|publisher=Kansas City, Associated Publications|via=Media History Digital Library}}</ref> The picture began shooting in early June 1945 and included Marsha Hunt, [[Hume Cronyn]], [[John Carroll (actor)|John Carroll]], [[Norman Lloyd]] and [[Pamela Britton]].<ref name="Venice Evening Vanguard-1945a" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Daily Notes from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on June 7, 1945 · Page 7|date=June 7, 1945 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/53373415/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Evening Vanguard from Venice, California on June 8, 1945 · 5|date=June 8, 1945 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/700708171/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> ''A Letter for Evie'' briefly changed title to ''All the Things You Are'' in late 1945, but its original title was restored in time for release in November 1945.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boxoffice|url=http://archive.org/details/boxofficebaromet00boxo_2|title=Boxoffice Barometer (1945)|date=1945|publisher=New York, Boxoffice|others=Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/motionpictureher161unse|title=Motion Picture Herald|date=1945|publisher=Quigley Publishing Co.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref>

It was announced that once Dassin completed the shooting of ''A Letter for Evie'', he would fly to Europe to direct a series of plays sponsored by the Actors' Laboratory Theatre.<ref name="Venice Evening Vanguard-1945b">{{Cite web|title=Evening Vanguard from Venice, California on June 21, 1945 · 7|date=June 21, 1945 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/700708978/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Seattle Star from Seattle, Washington on July 23, 1945 · 8|date=July 23, 1945 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/773550065/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The plays were to star soldiers as part of war-time moral-building entertainment.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/filmdail87wids|title=The Film Daily (Apr–Jun 1945)|date=1945|publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety158-1945-06|title=Variety (June 1945)|date=1945|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref> Again, he was denied a leave of absence from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and in early August 1945 was assigned to direct the romantic comedy thriller (with strong film noir tones), ''[[Two Smart People]]'' (originally announced as ''Time for Two'') for producer [[Ralph Wheelwright]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on August 7, 1945 · 10|date=August 7, 1945 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/541710068/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/motionpictureher1601unse|title=Motion Picture Herald|date=1945|publisher=Quigley Publishing Co.|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref> The picture began filming in September 1945 and starred [[Lucille Ball]], [[John Hodiak]] and [[Lloyd Nolan]], and was released in late 1946.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Evening Sun from Hanover, Pennsylvania on August 11, 1945 · 4|date=August 11, 1945 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/520260288/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on August 29, 1945 · Page 19|date=August 29, 1945 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52703872/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Following ''Two Smart People'', Dassin would spend more than a year without successfully shooting another film.

In March 1946, Dassin and Joseph Losey co-directed [[Viola Brothers Shore]]'s stage play ''Birthday'' for the Actors' Laboratory Theatre.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on March 4, 1946 · 9|date=March 4, 1946 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380813910/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The production, which unfolds a narrative of a girl's 18th birthday, was staged at the [[Phoenix Theater]] starring actress [[Karen Morley]].<ref name="LA Times-1946">{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on March 14, 1946 · 13|date=March 14, 1946 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380818694/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The cast also included [[Howard Duff]], [[Jocelyn Brando]] and [[Don Hanmer]].<ref name="LA Times-1946" /> In August 1946, it was reported that Dassin had been signed to direct the film noir ''[[Repeat Performance]]'' for [[Eagle-Lion Films]], through a loan-out arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai60unse|title=Motion Picture Daily (Jul–Sep 1946)|date=1946|publisher=New York [Motion picture daily, inc.]|via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref> The picture was to be made under the supervision of writer-producer [[Marion Parsonnet]] and set to star [[Franchot Tone]], [[Sylvia Sidney]], [[Constance Dowling]] and [[Tom Conway]].<ref name="Film Bulletin-1947">{{Cite book|last=Film Bulletin Company|url=http://archive.org/details/independ15film|title=Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1947)|date=1947|publisher=New York, Film Bulletin Company|others=New York The Museum of Modern Art Library}}</ref> Unfortunately, disagreements about the budget and script caused the whole production to fall apart and the entire cast and crew resigned.<ref name="Film Bulletin-1947" /> The picture was eventually made with a completely new team a year later.<ref name="Film Bulletin-1947" /> Dassin was finally released from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer once his exclusive five-year contract expired in November 1946.<ref name="SF Examiner-1946">{{Cite web|title=The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California on December 19, 1946 · 13|date=December 19, 1946 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/458303543/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="North Hollywood Valley Times-1946">{{Cite web|title=Valley Times from North Hollywood, California on December 23, 1946 · 14|date=December 23, 1946 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/580314576/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety164-1946-11|title=Variety (November 1946)|date=1946|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref>

==== Mark Hellinger Productions and Universal-International Pictures (1946–1948) ====
As soon as the news hit that Dassin was free from contractual obligations with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, writer-turned-producer [[Mark Hellinger]] scooped up the director, signing him to a non-exclusive three-picture freelance contract with his film production company, [[Mark Hellinger Productions]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Film Bulletin |date=1946|publisher=New York, Film Bulletin Company |url=http://archive.org/details/indepe14film|title=Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1946)|others=New York The Museum of Modern Art Library}}</ref><ref name="North Hollywood Valley Times-1946" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lewis|first=Charles |title=Showmen's Trade Review (Oct–Dec 1946)E. |url=http://archive.org/details/showmenstraderev45lewi|date=1946|publisher=Showmen's Trade Review, Inc.|others=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref> The contract gave Dassin the freedom to choose his own three projects to direct at Mark Hellinger Productions, without an expiry date.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from Los Angeles, California on April 9, 1947 · 29|date=April 9, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/689291223/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Saturday Evening Post-1947" /> The producer had an existing financing and distribution deal with [[Universal International Pictures|Universal-International Pictures]], where Dassin was set to direct one of Hollywood's biggest new stars, [[Burt Lancaster]], in a violent prison film noir, [[Brute Force (1947 film)|''Brute Force.'']]''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from Los Angeles, California on December 19, 1946 · 31|date=December 19, 1946 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/689347243/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="SF Examiner-1946" />''

With new freedom, and support from executive producer Hellinger and associate producer [[Jules Buck]], Dassin announced that he would shoot the picture using realism and a documentary-style.<ref name="LA Daily News-1947" /> He also employed a total of thirteen actors with whom he had worked at the Actors' Laboratory Theatre, including Hume Cronyn, Howard Duff, [[Roman Bohnen]], [[Whit Bissell]], [[Art Smith (actor)|Art Smith]], [[Jeff Corey]], [[Sam Levene]], [[Charles McGraw]], [[Will Lee]], [[Ray Teal]], Crane Whitley, Kenneth Patterson and James O'Rear.<ref name="LA Daily News-1947" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on April 10, 1947 · 21|date=April 10, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/683599628/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The cast also included noted Hollywood actors [[Charles Bickford]], [[Yvonne De Carlo]], [[Ann Blyth]], [[Ella Raines]] and [[Anita Colby]].<ref name="LA Daily News-1947" /> ''Brute Force'' was shot from March to April 1947 on the Universal-International Pictures lot, with reshoots taking place in early May 1947 to appease objections from the [[Motion Picture Association of America]], shortly before a preview audience.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Wilkes-Barre Record from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on March 11, 1947 · Page 17|date=March 11, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/106019262/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Valley Times from North Hollywood, California on May 8, 1947 · 19|date=May 8, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/580189611/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on May 24, 1947 · 6|date=May 24, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/683761209/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The film, which featured a score composed and conducted by [[Miklós Rózsa]], was released to theatres in July 1947 through Universal-International Pictures; that same month, [[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]] magazine awarded Dassin with the Movie Citations of the Month Award for Best Director.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/sim_cosmopolitan_1947-07_123_1|title=Cosmopolitan 1947-07: Vol 123 Iss 1|date=July 1947|publisher=Hearst Magazines, a Division of Hearst Communications |language=English}}</ref> Less than a year after its release, Dassin revealed that he did not like the film.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Altoona Tribune from Altoona, Pennsylvania on January 27, 1948 · Page 11|date=January 27, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/57156447/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

In early May 1947, Dassin was announced as the director of Hellinger's next production, ''[[The Naked City]]'' (originally announced as ''Homicide'')<ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on May 2, 1947 · 5|date=May 2, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/683758119/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/boxofficeaprjun15051unse|title=Boxoffice (Apr–Jun 1947)|date=1947|publisher=Kansas City, Associated Publications|via=Media History Digital Library}}</ref> Dassin planned to push the realism and documentary-style filming technique of the police story flic further by shooting it entirely on location in New York City.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois on September 25, 1947 · Page 10|date=September 25, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/94180769/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina on December 4, 1947 · 32|date=December 4, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/615982476/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The production received full cooperation from New York City's Homicide Squad during its two and a half months of location shooting, from June to August 1947.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety166-1947-05|title=Variety (May 1947)|date=1947|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety166-1947-06|title=Variety (June 1947)|date=1947|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/boxofficejulsep151unse|title=Boxoffice (Jul–Sep 1947)|date=1947|publisher=Kansas City, Associated Publications|via=Media History Digital Library}}</ref> 107 different locations were shot in New York City, and to distract the crowd and keep them looking natural, Dassin hired a juggler to draw their attention away from the cameras.<ref name="Saturday Evening Post-1947" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Birmingham News from Birmingham, Alabama on August 17, 1947 · 73|date=August 17, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/573604129/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

Dassin, Hellinger and associate producer Buck worked with several of the same cast and crew members from ''Brute Force'' on ''The Naked City'', including actors Howard Duff, Ralph Brooks and Chuck Hamilton, assistant director Fred Frank, cinematographer [[William Daniels (cinematographer)|William H. Daniels]], art director [[John DeCuir|John F. DeCuir]], set decorator [[Russell A. Gausman]] and composer Miklós Rózsa. The film also starred [[Barry Fitzgerald]], [[Don Taylor (American filmmaker)|Don Taylor]] and [[Dorothy Hart]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Valley Times from North Hollywood, California on May 27, 1947 · 15|date=May 27, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/580267877/|access-date=December 4, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=California Eagle from Los Angeles, California on October 16, 1947 · 21|date=October 16, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/693653933/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> After overseeing the editing of the film in Hollywood during September and October 1947, Dassin flew back to New York City in early November 1947 to work on the pre-production of the stage play ''Strange Bedfellows''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety168-1947-11|title=Variety (November 1947)|date=1947|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref name="Variety-1948a">{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety169-1948-03|title=Variety (March 1948)|date=1948|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref> Unbeknownst to Dassin, Hellinger and Buck wound up re-cutting the film in his absence; the director only finding out at the film's premiere on March 3, 1948, when he saw a highly edited version of his film projected on the screen.<ref name="YouTube-2021b" /> Furthermore, Hellinger died suddenly on December 21, 1947, months before the film was premiered and released to theatres by Universal-International Pictures.

Although Dassin was unhappy about the final cut of ''The Naked City'', the film was a huge success (one of the top movies of 1948),<ref name="Brooklyn Daily Eagle-1948a">{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on April 3, 1948 · Page 14|date=April 3, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52891543/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> and it was nominated for and won several accolades, including Academy Awards for [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]] and [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography, Black-and-White]], an Academy Award nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)|Best Writing, Motion Picture Story]]; a British Academy of Film and Television Arts nomination for [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film from any Source]]; and Writers Guild of America Award nominations for [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama|Best Written American Drama]] and The Robert Meltzer Award. In 2007, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States [[National Film Preservation Board]] and was selected for preservation in the [[Library of Congress]]' [[National Film Registry]].<ref name="IMDB-2021">{{Citation|title=The Naked City – IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040636/awards/|access-date=November 28, 2021}}</ref>

Dassin's third and final film under his Mark Hellinger Productions contract was up in limbo following Hellinger's death. The film production unit had undergone considerable changes in the months prior to Hellinger's passing, including the addition of [[Humphrey Bogart]] as vice-president, and the signing of a six-picture financing and distribution deal with [[David O. Selznick]]'s [[Selznick Releasing Organization]].<ref name="Variety-1948b">{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety169-1948-01|title=Variety (January 1948)|date=1948|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Film Bulletin Company|url=http://archive.org/details/indepe16film|title=Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1948)|date=1948|publisher=New York, Film Bulletin Company|others=New York The Museum of Modern Art Library}}</ref> Mark Hellinger Productions owned the filming rights to several [[Ernest Hemingway]] stories, Forest Rosaire's novel ''East of Midnight'', [[Arthur Cohn]]'s screenplay ''Disbarred'', Gordon Macker's screenplay ''Race Track'', [[Philip G. Epstein]]'s screenplay ''Mistakes Will Happen'', and Jerry D. Lewis' screenplay ''Twinkle, Twinkle''; in addition to three films in development: ''[[Knock on Any Door]]'', [[Criss Cross (film)|''Criss Cross'']] and ''[[Act of Violence]]''.<ref name="The Miami News-1948">{{Cite web|title=The Miami News from Miami, Florida on January 26, 1948 · 13|date=January 26, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/298646791/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Variety-1948d">{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety169-1948-02|title=Variety (February 1948)|date=1948|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref name="Variety-1948c">{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=http://archive.org/details/variety169-1948-03|title=Variety (March 1948)|date=1948|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref> Any of these properties may have been picked for Dassin to direct in 1948. The company also held contracts with actors Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Don Taylor and Howard Duff, and with cinematographer William Daniels.<ref name="The Miami News-1948" /><ref name="Variety-1948d" /><ref name="Variety-1948c" />

Bogart, Selznick and secretary-treasurer A. Morgan Marie announced their plan to continue Mark Hellinger Productions in January 1948, by co-heading the company and honoring the late producers' namesake with the previously planned films in development.<ref name="The Miami News-1948" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana on January 5, 1948 · Page 4|date=January 5, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/104803238/|access-date=January 17, 2022|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> However, difficulty lay in finding a new executive producer to head the production; [[Jerry Wald]] was first approached but was unable to free himself from his [[Warner Bros.]] contract.<ref name="Variety-1948b" /> [[Robert Lord (screenwriter)|Robert Lord]] was then offered the post and freed himself from his Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract to accept the new position.<ref name="Miami Herald-1948">{{Cite web|title=The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida on February 24, 1948 · 22|date=February 24, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/617962199/|access-date=January 17, 2022|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Unfortunately, Hellinger's widow, former actress Gladys Glad Hellinger, decided to liquidate the company and all of its assets in early February 1948.<ref name="Variety-1948d" /><ref name="Variety-1948c" /> The story properties and actor, director and cinematographer contracts were sold to other studios via the [[William Morris Agency]].<ref name="Variety-1948c" /><ref name="Indianapolis Star-1948">{{Cite web|title=The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana on February 26, 1948 · Page 19|date=February 26, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/104957181/|access-date=January 17, 2022|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> This lead Bogart, Lord and Marie to form their own film production company, [[Santana Productions]], and secure a financing and distribution deal with [[Columbia Pictures]] with some of the properties they managed to purchase.<ref name="Variety-1948c" /><ref name="Miami Herald-1948"/> It is unknown which, or if a studio bought out Dassin's remaining one-picture deal, though news reports hinted towards Universal-International Pictures or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.<ref name="Variety-1948c" /><ref name="Indianapolis Star-1948" />

In late December 1947, before Bogart, Selznick and Marie had decided upon continuing the Mark Hellinger Productions firm, Dassin took the opportunity of his non-exclusive contract to partner with stage actor and producer [[Luther Adler]] in an independent film venture.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on January 3, 1948 · Page 12|date=January 3, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52811073/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Adler had recently purchased Jack Iams' novel ''Prophet by Experience'' in September 1947 and hired [[Ben Hecht]] to adapt it and write the screenplay.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas on September 14, 1947 · 24|date=September 14, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/637147875/|access-date=December 6, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The story dealt with a hermit who is taken out of seclusion by a magazine writer, and who has a unique set of experiences in the outside world.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on March 8, 1949 · 27|date=March 8, 1949 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/381172023/|access-date=December 6, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Adler, who was solely to act as producer in his new film production company, approached Dassin to direct the picture and negotiations were underway for a financing and distribution deal with Columbia Pictures.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California on January 2, 1948 · 12|date=January 2, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/701636575/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on January 4, 1948 · 25|date=January 4, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380665032/|access-date=December 6, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> For reasons unknown, the film was never made.

While still in New York City, Dassin was hired by producers [[John Houseman]] and William R. Katzell to direct [[Allan Scott (American screenwriter)|Allan Scott]]'s play ''Joy to the World''; a comedy about a ruthless Hollywood producer.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from New York, New York on January 19, 1948 · 74|date=January 19, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/445701319/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Variety-1948a" /> The play began rehearsals on January 26, 1948, and opened on Broadway at the [[Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre|Plymouth Theatre]] on March 18, 1948.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daily News from New York, New York on January 26, 1948 · 188|date=January 26, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/445688835/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Nathan-1948">{{Cite book|last=George Jean Nathan|url=http://archive.org/details/theatrebookofthe013786mbp|title=The Theatre Book Of The Year 1947 1948 A Record And An Interpretation|date=1948|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|others=Universal Digital Library}}</ref> It would run for 124 performances, until July 3, 1948.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on March 14, 1948 · Page 33|date=March 14, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52877456/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="League-2021">{{Cite web|last=League|first=The Broadway|title=Joy to the World – Broadway Play – Original {{!}} IBDB|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/joy-to-the-world-1989|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=www.ibdb.com|language=en}}</ref> The cast included [[Alfred Drake]], Marsha Hunt, [[Morris Carnovsky]], [[Mary Welch]], [[Lois Hall]], [[Peggy Maley]], [[Myron McCormick]], [[Clay Clement]], [[Bert Freed]], [[Kurt Kasznar]] and [[Theodore Newton (actor)|Theodore Newton]].<ref name="Nathan-1948" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 21, 1948 · Page 18|date=January 21, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/89943108/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref>

==== 20th Century-Fox Film and the blacklist years (1948–1953) ====
{{See also|Hollywood Blacklist}}

In February 1948, Dassin was approached by theatre producer [[Mike Todd]] who was preparing to venture into the film producing business.<ref name="Minneapolis Star Tribune-1947">{{Cite web|title=Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 12, 1947 · Page 8|date=October 12, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/180754463/|access-date=December 6, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Todd planned to make a series of low-budget, $500,000 pictures and had secured a financing and distribution deal with [[20th Century-Fox Film]].<ref name="Minneapolis Star Tribune-1947" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Film Bulletin Company|url=https://archive.org/details/indepe16film|title=Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1948)|date=1948|publisher=New York, Film Bulletin Company|others=New York The Museum of Modern Art Library}}</ref> The first picture in Todd's new deal was ''Busman's Holiday'', an original story based on newspaper accounts of a [[The Bronx|Bronx]] bus driver who took off for Florida with his family using his company's bus.<ref name="Minneapolis Star Tribune-1947" /> Todd cast [[Joan Blondell]] as one of the leads and planned to shoot the entire picture using real locations, from New York City to Florida.<ref name="Minneapolis Star Tribune-1947" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on December 27, 1947 · 7|date=December 27, 1947 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/381047614/ |access-date=December 6, 2021 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |language=en |url-access=limited}}</ref> Impressed by the success and filming style of ''The Naked City'', Todd approached Dassin to direct ''Busman's Holiday''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on February 24, 1948 · 15|date=February 24, 1948 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/683967608/ |access-date=December 5, 2021 |url-access=limited |via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Although the picture was ultimately never made, Dassin had become an increasingly sought-after director.<ref> Mike Todd would later produce a very successful picture that used real locations: [[Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film)|''Around the World in 80 Days'']] (1956).</ref> 

On April 3, 1948, he returned to Hollywood to meet with executives from three different studios: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century-Fox Film and Columbia Pictures, each of which had offered him a contract.<ref name="Brooklyn Daily Eagle-1948a" /> Dassin connected best with [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] and opted to sign with 20th Century-Fox Film.<ref name="Variety-1948">{{Cite book|last=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety171-1948-09|title=Variety (September 1948)|date=1948|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|others=Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library}}</ref><ref name="YouTube-2021b" /><ref name="YouTube-2021a" /> In addition to ''Busman's Holiday'', he was tied to two other film projects in the spring of 1948, both involving actress [[Paulette Goddard]] at 20th Century-Fox.<ref name="Brooklyn Daily Eagle-1948b">{{Cite web|title=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on May 9, 1948 · Page 31|date=May 9, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/53864691/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Scranton Tribune-1948">{{Cite web|title=The Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania on June 5, 1948 · 14|date=June 5, 1948 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/531084410/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The first was to be a film adaptation of [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]'s latest novel and recently opened Broadway hit ''[[The Respectful Prostitute]]'', for which Goddard and actor [[Burgess Meredith]] had negotiated the screen rights, hoping to play the leads.<ref name="Brooklyn Daily Eagle-1948b" /> Dassin, who had promised to direct, was the only director Goddard wanted.<ref name="Brooklyn Daily Eagle-1948b" />

By June 1948, Dassin was set to direct [[Anna Lucasta (play)|''Anna Lucasta'']] at Columbia Pictures, a play written by [[Philip Yordan]] about a young prostitute whose family tries to use her to steal money from a potential husband.<ref name="Scranton Tribune-1948" /> Goddard was scheduled to play the lead in [[Anna Lucasta (1949 film)|the film]] and reportedly insisted that Dassin be hired to direct.<ref name="Scranton Tribune-1948" /> During negotiations with 20th Century-Fox, Zanuck considered loaning [[Linda Darnell]] to Columbia Pictures as part of a package deal, but things fell through.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on June 19, 1948 · 9|date=June 19, 1948 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/381331304/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com |language=en |url-access=limited}}</ref> [[Irving Rapper]] ultimately directed the film at Columbia Pictures.

During the summer of 1948, Dassin directed ''Magdalena'' on Broadway, a play produced by [[Edwin Lester]], which ran for 88 performances from September 20, 1948, to December 4, 1948.<ref>{{Cite web|last=League|first=The Broadway|title=Magdalena – Broadway Musical – Original {{!}} IBDB|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/magdalena-2018|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=www.ibdb.com|language=en}}</ref> By the time that ''Magdalena'' closed, Dassin was already back in Hollywood, having signed a contract with Zanuck at 20th Century-Fox.<ref name="YouTube-2021b" /><ref name="YouTube-2021a" /> Dassin's inaugural project for the studio was ''[[Thieves' Highway]]'' (originally announced as ''Thieves' Market'' and ''Hard Bargain''), starring [[Richard Conte]], [[Lee J. Cobb]] and [[Valentina Cortese]].<ref name="IMDb-2021a" /> In November 1949, the film won the [[Photoplay]] Award for Best Picture of the Month.<ref>{{Citation|title=Thieves' Highway – IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041958/awards/|access-date=November 28, 2021}}</ref>

Contrary to an often-cited 1958 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article, Dassin was not blacklisted because of a single denunciation from a particular witness at a congressional hearing.<ref name="Congr Rec-1961">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_congressional-record-proceedings-and-debates_february-28-may-29-1961_107_appendix|title=Congressional Record February 28 – May 29, 1961: Vol 107 APPENDIX|date=February 28, 1961|publisher=Superintendent of Government Documents|language=English}}</ref> Instead, his name had been mentioned a number of times, at various hearings of the [[United States House of Representatives]] [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC), and by different witnesses, some as early as 1947. He was also linked to several Communist-front organizations.<ref name="Congr Rec-1961" /><ref name="HUAC-1947">{{Cite book |last=United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities |url=https://archive.org/details/hearingsregardin1947aunit |title=Hearings regarding the communist infiltration of the motion picture industry. Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first session. Public law 601 (section 121, subsection Q (2))|date=1947|publisher=Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off.|others=Boston Public Library}}</ref><ref name="Am Legion-FBI">{{Cite book|title=American Legion FBI Files |last=FBI |url=https://archive.org/details/AmericanLegion-FBI/American%20Legion-Firing%20Line-1A/ }}</ref>

On October 22, 1947, while Dassin was still working on ''The Naked City'', Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) chief supervisor and executive producer [[James Kevin McGuinness]] testified before the HUAC.<ref name="HUAC-1947" /> He described an incident at MGM in 1941, shortly after Dassin had joined the studio, when an attempt was made to halt the production of ''[[Tennessee Johnson]]'', a biographical picture about the life of former U.S. President [[Andrew Johnson]].<ref name="HUAC-1947" /> McGuinness explained that after the death of the original producer of the picture, [[J. Walter Ruben]], he took over the production as part of his executive function.<ref name="HUAC-1947" /> He was then presented with a petition, signed by Dassin, [[Ring Lardner Jr.]], [[Donald Ogden Stewart]], [[Hy S. Kraft]] and [[Richard Collins (screenwriter)|Richard Collins]], which was addressed to MGM executive vice-president [[Al Lichtman]], demanding that the picture be aborted for political reasons.<ref name="HUAC-1947" /> All five signees were known Communists.<ref name="HUAC-1947" /><ref name="Philadelphia Daily Times-1947">{{Cite web |title=The Daily Times from New Philadelphia, Ohio on October 22, 1947 · Page 1 |date=October 22, 1947 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/84073255/|access-date=December 5, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The news hit the media quickly.<ref name="Philadelphia Daily Times-1947" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Latrobe Bulletin from Latrobe, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1947 · 7 |date=October 22, 1947 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/447576970/ |access-date=December 5, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |language=en |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/filmdail92wids/page/n147/mode/2up?q=Dassin |title=The Film Daily (Oct–Dec 1947) |date=1947 |publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. |via=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref>

In 1948 and 1949, Dassin's name was connected with at least three Communist-front organizations.<ref name="Calif Senate-1948">{{Cite book|last=California Legislature Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities|url=https://archive.org/details/reportofsenatefa1949cali |title=Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities|date=1948|publisher=Sacramento, Calif. : The Senate|others=San Francisco Public Library}}</ref> First, he was an executive board member of the [[Actors' Laboratory Theatre]]. The Committee did not assert that the Actors' Lab was Communist, but rather that its board of directors was made up almost exclusively of CPUSA members or Communist sympathizers, including Dassin.<ref>{{Cite book|last=California Legislature Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities |url=https://archive.org/details/reportofsenatefa00calirich|title=Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities, 1948 : Communist Front Organizations |date=1948–1959 |publisher=Sacramento: The Senate |others=Prelinger Library}}</ref> Second, he had been a member of the Artists' Front to Win the War—a gathering on October 16, 1942 that the HUAC cited as subversive.<ref name="Calif Senate-1948" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities |url=https://archive.org/details/investigationofc19530608unit |title=Investigation of Communist activities in the New York City area. Hearings|date=1953|publisher=Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off.|others=Boston Public Library}}</ref> Third, Dassin was a sponsor of the [[National Council of the Arts, Sciences, and Professions|National Council of the Arts, Sciences and Professions]]' [[Scientific and Cultural Conference for World Peace]], held from March 25–27, 1949, which the HUAC also cited as subversive.<ref>{{Cite book|last=California Legislature Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities|url=https://archive.org/details/reportofsenatefa1951cali|title=Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities |date=1951 |publisher=Sacramento, Calif. : The Senate|others=San Francisco Public Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities |date=1951|publisher=Washington|others=Boston Public Library |url=https://archive.org/details/reportoncommunis00unit/page/n3/mode/2up |title=Report on the Communist "peace" offensive; a campaign to disarm and defeat the United States}}</ref>

In the late spring of 1949, Zanuck called Dassin into his office to warn him that he was on the verge of being [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted]], but that he still had enough time to make one more movie for 20th Century-Fox.<ref>''[[Cineaste (magazine)|Cineaste]]'', [[Dan Georgakas]], spring 2007, p.72</ref><ref name="YouTube-2021a" /> Zanuck gave Dassin a copy of [[Gerald Kersh]]'s novel ''[[Night and the City (novel)|Night and the City]]'' and rushed him to England to make the film unhindered by the HUAC hearings.<ref name="YouTube-2021a" /> ''[[Night and the City]]'', later released in mid-1950, was filmed entirely on location in London between July and October 1949 and starred [[Richard Widmark]], [[Gene Tierney]], [[Googie Withers]], [[Hugh Marlowe]] and [[Mike Mazurki]].<ref>The film was shot in 1949, see {{cite web|last=Duncan|first=Paul|date=July 2, 2014|title=Why I Love: Night and the City (1950)|url=https://www.port-magazine.com/film/why-i-love-night-and-the-city-1950/ |access-date=September 28, 2015 |work=Port}}</ref> Dassin was already unofficially blacklisted during the production of ''Night and the City'' and was not allowed back on the studio property to edit the film nor oversee the musical scoring.<ref name="YouTube-2021a" /><ref name="dassin_interview">{{cite AV media|last=Dassin|first=Jules|medium=post-screening interview in DVD supplements|title=[[Night and the City]]|publisher=[[Criterion Collection]]|date=February 1, 2005}}</ref>

Nevertheless, Zanuck and producer [[Julian Blaustein]] hired Dassin to direct one more 20th Century-Fox Film, ''[[Half Angel (1951 film)|Half Angel]]'', a [[Technicolor]] comedy starring [[Loretta Young]], and scheduled to begin shooting in mid-June 1950.<ref name="20th Century-Fox-1941">{{Cite book|last1=Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Club |url=https://archive.org/details/action1941195800twen|title=Action (1941–1958)|last2=Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Club|date=1941|others=Media History Digital Library}}</ref> However, after political pressure from Hollywood and Washington, D.C., Dassin was replaced by [[Richard Sale (director)|Richard Sale]].<ref name="20th Century-Fox-1941" />

On April 25, 1951, film director [[Edward Dmytryk]], one of the "[[Hollywood blacklist#Hollywood Ten and beyond|Hollywood Ten]]" who had been blacklisted in 1947 for refusing to answer questions from the HUAC, had a change of heart and decided to cooperate with the Committee and "name names".<ref name="HUAC-1951">{{Cite book |last=United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities |url=https://archive.org/details/communistinfiltr02unit|title=Communist infiltration of Hollywood motion-picture industry: hearing before the Committee on Un-American activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, first session |volume=2 |date=1951|publisher=Washington, D.C. : U.S. G.P.O.|others=Boston Public Library}}</ref> In his revised testimony, Dmytryk revealed that the [[Screen Directors Guild|Screen Directors' Guild]] included seven known Communists. It was one of the first times the HUAC heard of film directors being Communists; up till then, the Committee had concentrated on left-wing writers in the [[Screen Writers Guild|Screen Writers' Guild]].<ref name="HUAC-1951" /> Dassin was named as one of the seven directors—along with [[Frank Tuttle]], [[Herbert Biberman]], [[John Berry (film director)|John Berry]], [[Bernard Vorhaus]] and Dmytryk himself—who had attended a Communist meeting at Berry's house for the purpose of electing themselves to the guild's board of directors.<ref name="HUAC-1951" /> Dmytryk explained that, at the time, the Communist Party wanted to get as many people as it could on the board of directors of the Screen Writers' Guild, Screen Actors' Guild, and Screen Directors' Guild in order to eventually control the policy of those guilds, particularly in relation to forging a coalition of the various unions.<ref name="HUAC-1951" />

On May 24, 1951, [[Frank Tuttle]] also gave cooperative testimony to the HUAC.<ref name="Am Legion-FBI" /><ref name="HUAC-Hollywood-1951">{{Cite web |title=Communist Infiltration of Hollywood Motion-Picture Industry - Part 3 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-congress-hearings-prints-and-reports_may-22-25-june-25-and-26-1951/page/628/mode/2up?q=Dassin |access-date=November 29, 2021 |publisher=Superintendent of Government Documents |language=en}}</ref> He said that during the 1930s and 1940s, a group of seven Communists existed within the Screen Directors' Guild.<ref name="HUAC-Hollywood-1951" /> Dassin was again named as one of those seven Communists, along with Herbert Biberman, Edward Dmytryk, Bernard Vorhaus, John Berry, [[Michael Gordon (film director)|Michael Gordon]] and Tuttle himself.<ref name="HUAC-Hollywood-1951" /> Tuttle explained that the CPUSA's goal was to elect its representatives to the board of directors of the Screen Directors' Guild, but that only he, Dmytryk and Biberman had succeeded in being appointed to executive positions, with the help of votes from the seven Communists in the guild.<ref name="HUAC-Hollywood-1951" />

Dassin's name was further mentioned during HUAC hearings for actor [[José Ferrer]] on May 25, 1951,<ref name="HUAC-Hollywood-1951" /> and film director [[Michael Gordon (film director)|Michael Gordon]] on September 17, 1951.<ref>{{Cite book |last=United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities |url=https://archive.org/details/communistinfiltr04unit |title=Communist infiltration of Hollywood motion-picture industry : hearing before the Committee on Un-American activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, first session |volume=4 |date=1951|publisher=Washington, D.C. : U.S. G.P.O.|others=Boston Public Library}}</ref> From that point on, Dassin was officially identified as a past or present CPUSA member.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-congress-hearings-prints-and-reports_1952-12-28 |title=Annual Report of the Committee on Un-American Activities for the Year 1952 |date=December 28, 1952 |publisher=Superintendent of Government Documents |language=English}}</ref><ref name="Congr Rec-1953">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_congressional-record-proceedings-and-debates_may-18-july-02-1953_99_appendix/page/A3514/mode/2up?q=Dassin |title=Congressional Record May 18 – July 02, 1953: Vol 99 APPENDIX |date=May 18, 1953 |publisher=Superintendent of Government Documents |language=English}}</ref>

In 1952, after Dassin had been out of work for two years, actress [[Bette Davis]] hired him to direct her in the Broadway revue ''[[Two's Company (musical)|Two's Company]]''.<ref name="Congr Rec-1953" /> The show ran for 90 performances, closing on March 8, 1953, due to Davis' poor health.<ref name="Congr Rec-1953" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Two's Company – Broadway Musical – Original {{!}} IBDB|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/twos-company-2203|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref> Dassin was then offered a job in France to direct a film. He accepted the offer and left the U.S. for good, never having to appear before the HUAC.<ref name=Dassin_interview>{{cite book |title=Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist |last1=McGilligan |first1=Patrick |last2=Buhle |first2=Paul |year=1997 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |chapter=Jules Dassin |page=216 |isbn=0-312-17046-7}}</ref>

=== Working in Europe ===

==== France ====
[[File:Joe and Jules Dassin 1970.jpg|thumb|Dassin with his son [[Joe Dassin]] in 1970]]
In March 1953, Dassin was hired by French producer [[Jacques Bar]] to direct the comedy-crime film ''[[The Most Wanted Man]]'', starring [[Fernandel]] and [[Zsa Zsa Gabor]] in a spoof of American gangster films.<ref name="YouTube-2021a">{{Citation|title=Jules Dassin on being Blacklist & Rififi| date=July 4, 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2F31S8Zm1w|language=en|access-date=November 27, 2021}}</ref> Dassin maintains that two days before the film was to begin shooting, Bar yielded to pressure from a powerful U.S. politician not to work with Dassin, receiving threats that the film, and any future Bar productions, would not be granted American distribution.<ref name="YouTube-2021a" /> In an HUAC hearing on July 12, 1956, [[Allied Artists Pictures Corporation]] manager of branch operations [[Roy Brewer|Roy M. Brewer]] stated that a worrisome Gabor phoned him from France after hearing rumors that Dassin had been identified as a Communist.<ref name="HUAC-1956">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-congress-hearings-prints-and-reports_july-12-13-1956|title=Hearings July 12–13, 1956|date=July 12, 1956|publisher=Superintendent of Government Documents|language=English}}</ref> The next day, Brewer received a telegram from [[American Federation of Labor]]'s European representative [[Irving Brown]], also questioning Dassin's political views.<ref name="HUAC-1956" /> Brewer further stated that at no point did he recommend the dismissal of Dassin as director, but that he merely reported the facts to the inquirers, which was that Dassin had been identified as a Communist.<ref name="HUAC-1956" /> ''The Most Wanted Man'' was ultimately directed by [[Henri Verneuil]] (a frequent collaborator of Fernandel), who went on to become a noted neo-noir director. Dassin later stated that he had further difficulty finding work in Europe as American film distribution companies forbade the exhibition of any film, regardless of its origin, associated with artists blacklisted in Hollywood.<ref name="YouTube-2021a" /> He later admitted that he worked as an uncredited writer on a number of scripts that were sent back to Hollywood through Zanuck.<ref name="YouTube-2021a" />

Dassin did not work as a film director again until ''[[Rififi]]'' in 1955 (a French production), his most influential film and an early work in the [[heist film|"heist film" genre]]. He won the Best Director award for the film at the 1955 [[Cannes Film Festival]]. It inspired later heist films, such as ''[[Ocean's Eleven (1960 film)|Ocean's Eleven]]'' (1960).<ref name="Luther">{{cite news|last=Luther|first=Claudia|date=April 1, 2008|title=Noir master directed caper classic 'Rififi'|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-01-me-dassin1-story.html|access-date=September 28, 2015}}</ref> Another film it inspired was Dassin's own heist film ''[[Topkapi (film)|Topkapi]]'' (1964), filmed in France and [[Istanbul, Turkey]] with his future second wife, [[Melina Mercouri]] and Oscar winner [[Peter Ustinov]].

Most of Dassin's films in the decades following the blacklist are European productions.<ref name="Luther"/> His later career in Europe and the affiliation with Greece through his second wife, combined with the Frenchified pronunciation of his surname in Europe (as "Da-SAn" instead of the common American "DASS-ine") led to a common misconception that he was a native European director.<ref name="dassin_interview"/>

====Melina Mercouri====
At the Cannes Film Festival in May 1955 he met Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and wife of Panos Harokopos.<ref name="Luther"/> At about the same time, he discovered the literary works of [[Nikos Kazantzakis]]; these two elements created a bond with Greece. Dassin next made ''[[He Who Must Die]]'' (1957) based on Kazantzakis' ''[[Christ Recrucified]]'' and in which Mercouri appeared. She went on to star in his ''[[Never on Sunday]]'' (1960) for which she won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival.<ref name=Skainews>{{in lang|el}} [http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=77340 Skai News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717003130/http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=77340 |date=July 17, 2011 }}, Απεβίωσε ο Ζυλ Ντασέν (''Jules Dassin died''), [http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skai.gr%2Fmaster_story.php%3Fid%3D77340&langpair=el%7Cen&ie=UTF8 English (machine translation)] Retrieved on April 1, 2008.</ref> She then starred in his next three films – ''[[Phaedra (film)|Phaedra]]'' (1962), ''[[Topkapi (film)|Topkapi]]'' (1964) and ''[[10:30 P.M. Summer]]'' (1966).

He divorced his first wife, Beatrice Launer, in 1962 and married Mercouri in 1966. She later starred in his ''[[Promise at Dawn (1970 film)|Promise at Dawn]]'' (1970)—during the filming of which, Dassin broke both his legs<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=2|date=October 8, 1969|title=Dassin Breaks Both Legs In Freak Studio Accident}}</ref>—and later ''[[A Dream of Passion]]'' (1978).

====Affiliation with Greece====
Dassin was considered a major [[Philhellene]] to the point of Greek officials describing him as a "first generation Greek". Along with Mercouri, he opposed the [[Greek military junta]].

The couple had to leave Greece after the [[Greek military junta of 1967–74|colonels' coup]] in 1967. In 1970 they were accused of having financed an attempt to overthrow the dictatorship, but the charges were quickly dropped.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} Dassin and Mercouri lived in New York City during the 1970s; then, when the military dictatorship in Greece fell in 1974, they returned to Greece and lived out their lives there. In 1974 he and Mercouri made ''[[The Rehearsal (1974 film)|The Rehearsal]]'' about the junta.

While Mercouri became involved with politics and won a parliamentary seat, Dassin stayed with movie-making in Europe. In 1982 he was a member of the jury at the [[34th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1984/04_jury_1984/04_Jury_1984.html |title=Berlinale: 1984 Juries |access-date=November 21, 2010 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Dasin family 1970.jpg|thumb|Joe and Jules Dassin with Beatrice Launer in Paris in 1970]]

=== Marriages ===
Dassin married twice. Before his marriage to Melina Mercouri, he married Beatrice Launer in 1933; she was a New-York–born, {{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} Jewish–American {{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} concert violinist (aka Beatrice Launer-Dassin; 1913–1994),<ref>[http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ssdi/doc/ssdi/v1:112F47BE008D2836 Beatrice Dassin]. Genealogy Bank. Retrieved July 26, 2015.</ref><ref name="Lansing State Journal-1942" /> a graduate of the [[Juilliard School]] of Music.<ref name="Juilliard-2010">[http://www.juilliard.edu/libraryarchives/pdfs/baton/LoRes/V10N8low.pdf The Juilliard School of Music, "The Baton", p. 12] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528000637/http://www.juilliard.edu/libraryarchives/pdfs/baton/LoRes/V10N8low.pdf |date=May 28, 2010 }}</ref> They divorced in 1962. Their children were Joseph Ira Dassin, better known as [[Joe Dassin]] (1938–80), a popular French singer in the 1970s; songwriter Richelle "Rickie" Dassin (born 1940); and actress–singer Julie Dassin (born 1944; also known as Julie D.).<ref>[https://archive.today/20120728181518/http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/julie_d_ Julie D.]. Rateyourmusic.com (July 19, 1945). Retrieved July 26, 2015.</ref>{{deprecated source|certain=y|date=November 2024}}

=== Death ===
Dassin died from complications of [[influenza]] at the age of 96; he was survived by his two daughters and his grandchildren. Upon his death, the Greek prime minister [[Costas Karamanlis]] released a statement: "Greece mourns the loss of a rare human being, a significant artist and true friend. His passion, his relentless creative energy, his fighting spirit and his nobility will remain unforgettable."<ref name="Luther" />

A major supporter of the return of the [[Elgin Marbles|Parthenon Marbles]] to Athens, for which he established the Melina Mercouri Institution in her memory after her death in 1994, he died a few months before the opening ceremony of the [[New Acropolis Museum]].<ref name="Skainews" />

==Preservation==
The Academy Film Archive has preserved Jules Dassin's film ''Night and the City'', including the British and pre-release versions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=http://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=&filmmaker=jules+dassin&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive}}</ref>

In 2000, [[Rialto Pictures]] restored and released ''Rififi'' theatrically.  It was subsequently released on home video through [[The Criterion Collection]] and [[Arrow Films]].

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2" style="width:33px;"|Year released
! rowspan="2"|Title
! colspan="5" |Credited as
! rowspan="2"|Awards
|-
! width=65 |Director
! width=65 |Producer
! width=65 |Screenwriter
! width=65 |Actor
! Role
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1941
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[The Tell-Tale Heart (1941 film)|The Tell-Tale Heart]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
| rowspan="3"| 1942
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Nazi Agent]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[The Affairs of Martha]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Reunion in France]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1943
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Young Ideas]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1944
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[The Canterville Ghost (1944 film)|The Canterville Ghost]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
| 1945
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[A Letter for Evie]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|1946
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Two Smart People]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1947
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Brute Force (1947 film)|Brute Force]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
| style="text-align:left;"|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1948
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[The Naked City]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
| style="text-align:left;"| 
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1949
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Thieves' Highway]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
| {{yes}}
| Fruit salesman on elevator (uncredited)
| style="text-align:left;"| 
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1950
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Night and the City]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1955
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Rififi]]''
| {{yes}}
|
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left;"| César le Milanais
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1957
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[He Who Must Die]]''
| {{yes}}
|
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1959
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[The Law (1959 film)|The Law]]''
| {{yes}}
|
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1960
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Never on Sunday]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Homer Thrace
| style="text-align:left;"| Nominated — [[Academy Award for Best Director]]<br>Nominated — [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen]]<br>Nominated — [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|BAFTA Award for Best Film From Any Source]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1962
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Phaedra (film)|Phaedra]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Christo <br>(uncredited)
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1964
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Topkapi (film)|Topkapi]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Turkish cop <br>(uncredited)
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1966
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[10:30 P.M. Summer]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
| rowspan="2"| 1968
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Survival 1967]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Uptight (film)|Uptight]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1970
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Promise at Dawn (1970 film)|Promise at Dawn]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Ivan Mosjukine
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1974
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[The Rehearsal (1974 film)|The Rehearsal]]''
| {{yes}}
|
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Himself
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1978
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[A Dream of Passion]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| 1980
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Circle of Two]]''
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
*{{IMDb name|0202088|Jules Dassin}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080501163842/http://www.mkm-haifa.co.il/francais/chanson/dassin_photos.htm Family photos (French)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071013192334/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/86774/Jules-Dassin Jules Dassin] at ''[[The New York Times]] Movies''
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/movies/01dassin.html New York Times obituary]
*[http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2008/04/dass-a03.html Obituary] on the ''[[World Socialist Web Site]]''

{{Jules Dassin}}
{{Prix de la mise en scene 1946–1959}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dassin, Jules}}
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