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,
The Wind and the Lion Wild Bunch", which inspired the final confrontation between the American and German troops and the earlier scene where the Sultan test-fires his Maxim gun. The film was a co production between MGM, then under the control of Daniel Melnick, and Columbia Pictures, then run by Peter Guber. It was produced by Herb Jaffe making his first film as an independent after five years as head of production at United Artists. Milius originally wanted Omar Sharif to play Raisuli and Faye Dunaway to play Eden Perdicaris, but Sharif refused the part and Dunaway became ill due to exhaustion, having to be