operation of the Department of  Defense who would only insist on making sweeping changes to the  film. (The DOD was openly critical of Wouks depiction of the navy.)  Undeterred, independent producer Stanley Kramer optioned the novel  for $60,000. Once the novel won the Pulitzer Prize, the DOD had to  soften their attitude towards the novel, given its huge popularity.  They eventually approved Kramers submitted screenplay treatment in  1952.