In 1946, Cummings said, "Often I play the boyfriend of a girl young enough to be my daughter. I'm 36, and whenever I start drooping, I run one of my pictures and feel like a kid again." Around this time, he also said he was more interested in producing and directing, and hoped to act in only one film per year. United California Productions Cummings had the leads in two films for Nero Films, a company of Seymour Nebenzal and Eugene Frenke, who released through United Artists: a film noir, The Chase (1946); and a Western, Heaven Only Knows (1947). Cummings decided to form his own production company with Frenke and Philip Yordan, which they called United California. (They originally called it United World, but it was too similar to another company's name.) In December 1946, it was announced that Cummings had signed an exclusive contract with United California Productions, and that his deal with Wallis was for one film a year for seven years. They announced Bad Guy from a script by Yordan. They were also going to do Joe MacBeth (which was ultimately made by others). In 1947, Cummings had reportedly earned $110,000 in the preceding12 months. The Lost Moment (1947) with Susan Hayward was a film noir for Walter Wanger at Universal based on The Aspern Papers by Henry James. It was a resounding flop at the box office. Cummings was initially meant to follow it with The Big Curtain for Edward Alperson at Fox but that picture was never produced. Cummings appeared in Sleep, My Love (1948), another noir, directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Mary Pickford. United California eventually brought in manufacturer Frank Hale as partner. Its first film, Let's Live a Little (1948), was a romantic comedy with Hedy Lamarr, released through United Artists. Cummings announced a series of projects for United California: Ho the Fair Wind from a novel by IAR Wylie, The Glass Heart by Mary Holland, Poisonous Paradise (a docudrama for which some footage had been shot called Jungle), Passport to Love by Howard Irving Young, and a remake of Two Hearts in Three Quarter Time. Cummings was also trying to interest Norman Krasna into writing the story of how Cummings broke into acting, to be called Pardon My Accent. Cummings did The Accused (1949) for Hal Wallis at Paramount, supporting Loretta Young. Reign of Terror (1949) was a thriller