 Elia Kazan was loath to do business with Darryl F. Zanuck who had  insisted on multiple cuts on "Man on a Tightrope". Fortunately when  Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg met with Zanuck, he started talking  about widescreen Technicolor pictures. Zanuck eventually came clean  and said he didnt like a single thing about it, stating "Whos  going to care about a bunch of sweaty longshoremen?" This led Kazan  and Schulberg to meet with independent producer Sam Spiegel who set  up a deal with Columbia.