 According to Eli Wallach (qv)s autobiography, Yul Brynner (qv)  had a major problem with what he perceived as  Steve McQueen (I) (qv)s trying to upstage him. According to  Wallach, McQueen would do things when on screen with Brynner to draw  attention to his character. Examples were his shaking of the shotgun  shells and taking off his hat to check the sun during the hearse  scene and leaning off his horse to dip his hat in the river when the  Seven cross into Mexico. Brynner was supposedly so worried about  McQueen stealing his limelight in scenes that he hired an assistant  to count the number of times McQueen touched his own hat when he  [Brynner] was speaking.