Garfunkel began acting, and played Captain Nately in the Nichols film "Catch-22" based on the novel of the same name. Simon was to play the character of Dunbar, but screenwriter Buck Henry felt the film was already crowded with characters and wrote Simon's part out. Filming began in January 1969 and lasted about eight months, longer than expected. The production endangered the duo's relationship; Simon had completed no new songs, and the duo planned to collaborate after filming ended. Following the end of filming in October, the first performance of what was planned to be their last tour took place in Ames, Iowa. The US leg of the tour ended in the sold-out Carnegie Hall on November 27. Meanwhile, the duo, working with director Charles Grodin, produced an hourlong CBS special, "Songs of America", a mixture of scenes featuring notable political events and leaders concerning the US, such as the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy's funeral procession, Cesar Chavez and the Poor People's March. It was broadcast only once, due to tension at the network regarding its content.