Faye Dunaway a commercial failure. In 1969, Dunaway appeared in "The Arrangement", a drama directed by Elia Kazan, based upon his novel of the same title, opposite Kirk Douglas. The film did poorly at the box office, receiving mostly negative reviews, although Dunaway was praised, with Roger Ebert writing that her acting "is not only the equal of in "Bonnie and Clyde", but is, indeed, the only good acting she has done since". Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote that she was "looking so cool and elegant that the sight of her almost pinches the optic nerves". Also in 1969,
Faye Dunaway as the villainous Milady de Winter in Richard Lester's "The Three Musketeers", based on Alexandre Dumas' novel of the same name, co-starring Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain and Charlton Heston. Eventually, producers decided to split the film into two parts: "The Three Musketeers" and "The Four Musketeers" (released in 1974). Critics and audiences alike praised the film for its action and its comic tone, and it was the first in a line of successful projects for Dunaway. Director Roman Polanski offered Dunaway the lead role of Evelyn Mulwray in his mystery neo-noir "Chinatown" (1974). Although its producer, Robert Evans,