His film career, such as it was, was revived in 1944 by no less than eventual RKO Studio owner Howard Hughes, who renamed Selzer (then using the stage name Dick Ellis) Richard Blackwell and cast him as a swarthy screen hero.
The film career never took off, and Blackwell tried personal managing – until it was noticed, by 1957, that the clothes he designed for his clients often out-shined their acting.