1948, Dassin was tied to direct 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. Goddard was set to play the lead in the film and reportedly insisted that Dassin be hired to direct. During negotiations with 20th Century-Fox, Zanuck considered loaning Linda Darnell to Columbia Pictures as part of a package deal, but things fell through. 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. By the time that Magdalena closed, Dassin was already back in Hollywood, having signed a contract with producer Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century-Fox Film. His 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. In November 1949, the film won the Photoplay Award for Best Picture of the Month. Contrary to an often-quoted 1958 article in Time magazine, Dassin was not blacklisted because of a sole denunciation from a witness at a congressional hearing. His name had been mentioned a number of times, at various hearings of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, and by different witnesses, as early as 1947. He was also linked to several Communist-front organizations. On October 22, 1947, while Dassin was still working on The Naked City, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer chief supervisor and executive producer James Kevin McGuinness testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He described an event at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 United States President Andrew Johnson. 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. He was then presented with a petition, signed by Dassin, Ring Lardner Jr., Donald Ogden Stewart, Hy S. Kraft and Richard Collins, which was addressed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executive vice-president Al Lichtman, demanding that the picture be aborted. All five signees were known Communists. The news hit the media quickly. In 1948 and 1949, Dassin's name was connected with at least