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 Great Gatsby (1974 film) theatrical release. The rights to the novel were purchased in 1971 by Robert Evans so that his wife Ali MacGraw could play Daisy. After MacGraw left Evans for Steve McQueen, he considered other actresses for the role, including Faye Dunaway, Candice Bergen, Natalie Wood, Katharine Ross, Lois Chiles and Cybill Shepherd. However, Mia Farrow was cast as Daisy and Chiles was given the role of Jordan. Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Steve McQueen declined the role of Jay Gatsby, which went to Robert Redford. Beatty wanted to direct producer Evans as Gatsby and Nicholson did not think that MacGraw was