Editing Burt Lancaster (section)

===Hecht-Lancaster Productions===
In 1951, the actor/producer duo changed the company's name to Hecht-Lancaster Productions. The first film under the new name was another swashbuckler: 1952's ''[[The Crimson Pirate]]'', directed by Siodmak. Again, co-starring Nick Cravat, it was extremely popular. Taking the premise of The Flame and the Arrow a step further, it allowed the pair to, not only emphasise the absurdity of the story with more spectacle and comical situations but to demonstrate they were able to perform their own circus skills-based stunts without relying on [[stuntmen]] quite as much a most Hollywood stars. As if to down play this, Lancaster himself speaks to the audience in the opening scene over footage of Lancaster performing a dangerous rope swing from one of his pirate ship's masts to the other. "…in a pirate world, believe only what you see." The footage is then reversed to show a near impossible backwards swing to the first mast again, from which he proclaims "No, believe HALF of what you see."

Lancaster changed pace once more by doing a straight dramatic part in 1952's ''[[Come Back, Little Sheba (1952 film)|Come Back, Little Sheba]]'', based on a Broadway hit, with [[Shirley Booth]], produced by Wallis and directed by [[Daniel Mann]].

Alternating with adventure films, he went into ''[[South Sea Woman]]'' in 1952 at Warners. Part of the Norma-Warners contract was that Lancaster had to appear in some non-Norma films, of which this was one.<ref>"Burt Breaks Mold When Typed: Burt Balks at Typed Film Roles" – Scheuer, Philip K. ''Los Angeles Times'' December 14, 1952: pages D1-D4. Clippings at [[Newspapers.com]]: [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103566453/ First page] and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/157137187/ second page].</ref>

[[File:Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity trailer.jpg|thumb|With [[Deborah Kerr]] in ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'', 1953]]

In 1954, for his own company, Lancaster produced and starred in ''[[His Majesty O'Keefe]]'', a South Sea island tale shot in Fiji. It was co-written by James Hill, who would soon become a part of the Hecht-Lancaster partnership.<ref>Lancaster to Star in Shipwreck Tale: Norma Productions Buys 'His Majesty O'Keefe' for the Actor's First '52 Role By thomas F. Brady ''The New York Times'' January 1, 1951: 14.</ref>