he signed Jean Porter to star in Betty Co-Ed (1946), made by Katzman's Monogram director Arthur Dreifuss. The film received excellent reviews, prompting Columbia to ask for three more. Porter left Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which was downsizing, to sign with Katzman. The three musicals were Little Miss Broadway (1947), Sweet Genevieve (1947) and Two Blondes and a Redhead (1947). Katzman and Dreifuss then made two films with singer Gloria Jean, who had been a star at Universal Pictures. Katzman was so pleased by I Surrender Dear (1948) that he devoted more time to it, and economized on her other picture, Manhattan Angel (1949). These were budgeted at about $140,000 per film. He made some sports-themed features starring Gloria Henry, Racing Luck (1948) and Triple Threat (1948), and the musicals Mary Lou (1948) and Glamour Girl (1948). During this time Katzman continued to produce serials for Columbia such as Jack Armstrong (1947), The Vigilante (1947), The Sea Hound (1947) with Buster Crabbe, Brick Bradford (1948), Congo Bill (1948) and the outstandingly successful Superman (1948). Focus on Action Films The boxoffice performance of Katzman's action movies and serials, particularly Superman, was outstripping those for his musicals and comedies, leading him away from those genres. From 1949 to 1954 he would produce only action fare for Columbia. In February 1948 Katzman had signed a five-year deal with screen Tarzan Johnny Weissmuller to make "jungle movies" starting with two films a year for two years where the budgets would be at least $350,000. These turned into the Jungle Jim series starting with Jungle Jim (1948) In October 1948 Katzman signed a seven-year, $4 million contract with Columbia to make four feature films a year through his Kay Pictures corporation, four serials a year via his Esskay Productions, and a Jungle Jim film series starring Johnny Weissmuller. Katzman's stock-in-trade was now a mix of Arabian Nights fantasies (bluntly euphemized by Katzman as "tits and sand"), western, action, and prison pictures. He would average ten features a year, producing them in four to ten weeks. Katzman allowed a budget of $400,000 for The Prince of Thieves (1948), a version of the Robin Hood story starring Hall. Other action-orientated Katzman product around this time included The Lost Tribe (1949), a Jungle Jim movie; the serial Tex Granger (1948), Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949), Batman and Robin (1949) and Bruce Gentry – Daredevil of the Skies (1949); the action thriller