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
Sleeping Beauty (1959 film) 70mm prints. The Super Technirama 70 prints were equipped with six-track stereophonic sound; some CinemaScope-compatible 35mm Technirama prints were released in four-track stereo, and others had monaural soundtracks. On the initial run, "Sleeping Beauty" was paired with the short musical/documentary film "Grand Canyon" which won an Academy Award. During its original release in January 1959, "Sleeping Beauty" grossed approximately $5.3 million in theater rentals (the distributor's share of the box office gross). "Sleeping Beauty's" production costs, which totaled $6 million, made it the most expensive Disney film up to that point, and over twice as expensive as each of the