Hal E. Chester, as he was now known, managed to convince Monogram to place him on contract as a producer in 1945. Meanwhile, he entered into an agreement with comic strip writer-cartoonist Ham Fisher, creator of the Joe Palooka comic strip cartoon character. Between 1946 and 1951, Chester, as producer, was responsible for a series of what became eleven Joe Palooka movies starring Joe Kirkwood, Jr beginning with Joe Palooka, Champ (1946).
