the sentence "How was your dinner?" became "Was the food not to your liking?" By early June, Fry (working backward from the ending) had finished the screenplay. Film historian Daniel Eagan, however, claims that Fry did not finish the screenplay. Rather, as time went on, Wyler stopped seeking improvements to the script in order to finish the picture. The final script ran 230 pages. The screenplay differed more from the original novel than did the 1925 silent film version. Some changes made the film's storyline more dramatic. Others inserted an admiration for Jewish people (who had founded the state of Israel by this time) and the more pluralistic society of 1950s America rather than the "Christian superiority" view of Wallace's novel. Credits dispute Wyler said that he tried to get Tunberg and Fry co-credit for writing the screenplay. Tunberg initially agreed, Wyler said, but then changed his mind when the Screen Writers' Guild routinely investigated the claim. According to Gore Vidal and film historian Gary Giddins, however, Wyler tried to get Fry an unshared credit for the screenplay. The dispute over who would receive screen credit quickly became a public one. According to The New York Times, Vidal challenged the initial determination by the Screen Writers' Guild regarding who would receive writing credit for the film. The Screen Writers' Guild arbitrated the credit under its screenwriting credit system, and unanimously awarded full and sole credit for the script to Tunberg (who, coincidentally, was a former president of the Guild). Both director William Wyler and Sol C. Siegel, head of production at MGM, appealed the Guild's ruling. Tunberg agreed to share credit, but the Guild refused to change its ruling. Wyler publicly campaigned to get Fry screenwriting credit, feeling that insider politics had led the Guild to give Tunberg sole credit. In retaliation, the Guild took out advertisements in trade newspapers accusing Wyler of trying to undermine the integrity of the credit and arbitration system. When Ben-Hur won Academy Awards in a wide range of categories except best screenplay, the Guild then accused Wyler of interfering with Tunberg's nomination. Later, when Charlton Heston accepted his Oscar for Best Leading Actor, he thanked Christopher Fry in his acceptance speech. The Guild sent him a letter which accused Heston of deliberately impugning the Guild and Tunberg's reputation. Casting Several actors were offered the role of Judah Ben-Hur before it was accepted by Charlton