 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.