Hanmer. 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. 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. Unfortunately, disagreements about the budget and script caused the whole production to fall apart and the entire cast and crew resigned. The picture was eventually made with a completely new team a year later. Dassin was finally released from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer once his exclusive five-year contract expired in November 1946. 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. The contract gave Dassin the freedom to choose his own three projects to direct at Mark Hellinger Productions, without an expiry date. The producer had an existing financing and distribution deal with 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. 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. 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, Jeff Corey, Sam Levene, Charles McGraw, Will Lee, Ray Teal, Crane Whitley, Kenneth Patterson and James O'Rear. The cast also included noted Hollywood actors Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth, Ella Raines and Anita Colby. 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. 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 awarded Dassin with the Movie Citations of the Month Award for Best Director. Less than a year after its release, Dassin revealed that he did not like the film. In early May 1947, Dassin was announced as the director of