William Wyler of the most important directors in her career. "Friendly Persuasion" (1956) was awarded the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival. And in 1959, Wyler directed "Ben-Hur", which won 11 Oscars, a feat unequaled until "Titanic" in 1997. He had also assisted in the production of the . Wyler and its star, Charlton Heston, both knew what the film meant for MGM, which had massive investments in its final outcome, with the film's budget having gone from $7 million to $15 million, and the fact that MGM was already in dire financial straits. They were aware that if
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959 film) presented letterboxed. The film thus exists in "two" definitive editions. The score was provided by Václav Trojan. The film received a lukewarm initial response, but was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival where it tied for the (the selection of the Technical Committee) alongside Vojtěch Jasný's "Desire" (). It also won an Honourable Medal at the 20th Venice International Film Festival in 1959; first prize for best film in Bucharest in 1960; second prize in Montevideo in 1960; and first prize—the "Golden Mercury"—for music in Valencia in 1962. An English-language dubbed version was made with narration by Richard Burton