very convincing pro quarterback. "I marveled at how skinny he was in a Saints uniform", said local DJ Bob Walker, who was an extra in the movie. "It hung on him like a cheap suit three sizes too big. When the cameras weren't rolling we watched him try to throw some passes. His receiver was 10-20 yards away and his alleged passes didn't come close." Joe Wendryhoski, who basically played himself in the film as the Saints center, called Heston "a great guy, very sociable" who unfortunately "didn't have an athletic bone in his body. As a quarterback, he left a lot to be desired." In the final scene when Catlan is crushed by the Dallas defense (actually portrayed by Saints players Mike Tilleman, Dave Rowe, and Fred Whittingham), neither Heston nor the producer felt the hit on him was realistic enough, so Heston asked them to cut loose to really make it look authentic. On the second take, the trio slammed the actor to the ground, breaking three of his ribs. Reaction Number One was a commercial failure, but critical reaction was mixed. The film, and particularly Heston's performance, did earn a rave review from Howard Thompson of The New York Times, who called the "consistently engrossing" film, "...a succinct, stinging and often strong gridiron drama...." Thompson described Heston's performance as "a brooding, scorching and beautifully disciplined tour de force for the actor....If Heston could have been better, we don't know how." Production Plans for the film were announced in 1966 to be made by the same team as The War Lover. The National Football League permitted the New Orleans Saints' name and jerseys to be used, as opposed to many football films featuring professional teams with fictional names. However, this lead to historical inaccuracies in the film, particularly in flashbacks of Catlan's career. One flashback scene shows Catlan's first game as a rookie for the Saints in what would've been the early 1950s, however, the Saints were founded in 1966 and began play the following season. Another flashback shows Catlan and the team celebrating a championship victory, however, the Saints did not win a championship at any point before the film was shot (or indeed, for several decades afterwards, their first title coming in 2010 at Super Bowl XLIV, nearly a half-century after the film was made). The music was composed by Dominic Frontiere, future husband of Los