Ben-Hur (1959 film) New York City on November 18, 1959. Present at the premiere were William Wyler, Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Martha Scott, Ramon Novarro (who played Judah Ben-Hur in the 1925 silent film version), Spyros Skouras (president of the 20th Century Fox), Barney Balaban (president of Paramount Pictures), Jack L. Warner (president of Warner Bros.), Leonard Goldenson (president of the American Broadcasting Company), Moss Hart (playwright), Robert Kintner (an ABC Television executive), Sidney Kingsley (playwright), and Adolph Zukor (founder of Paramount Pictures). During its initial release the film earned $33.6 million in North American theater rentals (the distributor's share of
1001 Arabian Nights (1959 film) the series director on the popular series of "Mr. Magoo" theatrical cartoons produced for Columbia by UPA between 1949 and 1959. Disagreements with producer and UPA owner Stephen Bosustow led to Burness resigning and Bosustow recruiting Jack Kinney, the director of many of Disney's "Donald Duck" cartoons, as the film's new director. "1001 Arabian Nights" was the first full-length feature produced by UPA, a studio which had revolutionized animation during the 1950s by incorporating design and limited animation. The film was not a box-office success, and was UPA's final release through Columbia, which had ended its distribution for the UPA