into the alien creature. The script was refined further by director Val Guest, who cut 30 pages from Landau's script. One of Guest's key script contributions was to tailor the dialogue to suit the brusque style of star Brian Donlevy. With an American actor cast as Quatermass, Guest reverted Briscoe to a British character and reinstated Quatermass's title of professor. Guest also adapted some sections of the script in response to the concerns of the BBFC. Further stylistic changes were sought by the BBC, who retained a script approval option after the sale of the rights and asked Nigel Kneale to work on their suggested changes, much to his indignation, . Kneale was tasked with rewriting any scenes featuring BBC announcers to match the BBC's news reporting style. Casting Irish-American actor Brian Donlevy was brought in by Robert L. Lippert to play the title role of Quatermass to provide an interest for American audiences. Donlevy, in his own words, specialised in "he-men roles – rough, tough and realistic". Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Beau Geste (1939), he was also known for his appearances in The Great McGinty (1940) and The Glass Key (1942). At the time he appeared as Quatermass, his career was in decline, however. Donlevy's no-nonsense portrayal of Quatermass is very different from that of Reginald Tate in the television version. It was not to Nigel Kneale's liking, who said, "I may have picked Quatermass's surname out of a phone book, but his first name was carefully chosen: Bernard, after Bernard Lovell, the creator of Jodrell Bank. Pioneer, ultimate questing man. Donlevy played him as a mechanic, a creature with a completely closed mind". Responding to Kneale's criticisms, Val Guest said, "Nigel Kneale was expecting to find Quatermass like he was on television, a sensitive British scientist, not some American stomping around, but to me Donlevy gave it absolute reality". By this stage in his career, Donlevy was suffering from alcoholism; it was some weeks into the shoot before Guest became aware that the flask of coffee he always carried on set was laced with brandy. Guest found, however, that "Brian was all right, no problem at all once you kept him sober". He reprised the role of Quatermass in Quatermass 2 (1957) but was replaced by Andrew Keir in the third film, Quatermass and the Pit (1967). Inspector Lomax was played by