male lead in the big-budget The Climax (1944) with Boris Karloff and Susanna Foster, an unsuccessful attempt to duplicate the success of Phantom of the Opera (1943). He had a key role in the musical Bowery to Broadway (1944), a vehicle for Jack Oakie. In 1944, a poll by exhibitors of "Stars of Tomorrow" listed Bey at number nine. In May 1944, Universal announced it would star him in Return of the Sheik. Universal put Bey and Foster in the Western Frisco Sal (1945). He was more comfortably cast in Sudan (1945), with Montez and Hall. MGM wanted Bey for a part in Weekend at the Waldorf, but Universal and Walter Wagner wanted him for another film so he could not do it (George Zucco played the role). The Wanger film was Night in Paradise (1946), with Bey playing Aesop opposite Merle Oberon for director Arthur Lubin. Bey admitted to often arriving late on set, something he later regretted. The movie was a box-office flop and damaged Bey's standing in Hollywood. Army service As a Turkish subject, Bey had not been eligible to be called by the draft board. That changed when Turkey declared war on Germany in February 1945, and in June, Bey was inducted into the army at Fort MacArthur. He served at Santa Ana Army Air Base for a time and performed in a version of Carmen at Fort Roberts. Bey was in the army for 18 months, which halted his career's momentum. When he got out, Universal offered him a film that Bey refused, and he was put on suspension. It sold his contract, which had three years to go, to Eagle-Lion. Bey later recalled his time at Universal as "very pleasant, very constructive; the end, unfortunately, a big flop but c'est la vie...It was a studio of cooperation where the biggest producer was never too big to listen to you...I should have been a little more serious about my work but I was very young." Eagle-Lion Productions Bey made four films with Eagle-Lion. The first was the comedy Out of the Blue (1947) with George Brent and Virginia Mayo. Bey followed it with the swashbuckler Adventures of Casanova (1948), supporting Arturo de Córdova. Bey made the thriller The Amazing Mr. X (1948) with Lynn Bari. His fourth film for Eagle-Lion was Parole, Inc (1948) with Michael O'Shea. In August 1948, he appeared on stage in