not a single horse was seriously hurt during filming. While filming this scene, Antoine Saint-John revealed himself to be terrified of horses, and would often hide somewhere on the set when his sword fight with Sean Connery was to be filmed. Several of the crew are cast, most notably the cinematographer Billy Williams (perhaps best known for Ken Russell's 1969 film Women in Love), who plays the gun-shooting, white-suited Englishman Sir Joshua Smith in the opening scenes of the attack at the Pedecaris villa. The special effects supervisor Alex Weldon appears as Roosevelt's Secretary of War, Elihu Root, and Milius himself cameos as the one-armed German officer who gives the Sultan his Maxim gun to test-fire ("Herr Sultan is displeased?"). Milius later said he did not particularly enjoy working with Candice Bergen or Sean Connery, particularly Connery because he was so "sour and dour". He greatly admired Connery's performance, whereas he felt Bergen's acting range was extremely limited, and she was only concerned with looking good. Reception The Wind and the Lion debuted in New York during May 1975 and Britain in October. The film was a financial success, though Steven Spielberg's hit film Jaws distracted attention away from it. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 63% based on reviews from 16 critics. On Metacritic the film has a score of 69% based on reviews from 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Variety called it "Generally literate and very commercial period action drama, well written and better directed by John Milius." Shortly after its release, the film was screened for U. S. President Gerald Ford and his staff, who reportedly loved it. Awards The film was nominated for two Academy Awards; Jerry Goldsmith for Best Original Score and Harry W. Tetrick, Aaron Rochin, William McCaughey, Roy Charman for Best Sound. Additionally, the Writers Guild of America nominated Milius' screenplay. Novel A novel, The Wind and the Lion by John Milius, based on Milius's film, was published by Award Books in January 1975. Based on the screenplay, the story is slightly different from the finished film, with several additional scenes (notably, Eden Perdicaris taking a bath at Raisuli's palace and Gummeré watching the Atlantic Squadron arrive in Tangier) included, and the story's chronology is slightly different. The first printing included a chapter about production events and brief biographies of the cast and crew. Music The