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
Shadows (1959 film) Robert Alan Aurthur. The racial prejudice angle was reduced, and the three main characters were given more complexity, as well as more time exploring their connectedness. With financing from Nikos Papatakis and others, Cassavetes re-assembled the required members of the cast and crew. Half to two-thirds of the original footage was replaced, which angered those whose work was diminished. A 16 mm print was struck, and the new version was shown on November 11, 1959, at Amos Vogel's avant-garde Cinema 16, on a double bill with the 30-minute Beat poetry film "Pull My Daisy". The first version was an ensemble