Zinnemann rounded out the 1950s with '' The Nun 's Story '' ( 1959 ) , casting Audrey Hepburn in the role of Sister Luke , a nun who eventually gives up the religious life to join the Belgian resistance in the Second World War . The film was based on the life of Marie Louise Habets . Hepburn , who gave up the chance to play Anne Frank in order to work on '' The Nun 's Story '' , considered the film to be her best and most personal work . Zinnemann 's style of cutting from close-up to close-up was heavily influenced by Carl Theodor Dreyer 's '' Passion of Joan of Arc '' ( 1928 ) , his favorite film . He was grateful that Hepburn was easy to work with : '' The Sundowners '' ( 1960 ) , starring Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr as an Australian outback husband and wife , led to more Academy Award nominations , including Best Picture , Best Director , Best Screenplay , Best Actress ( Kerr ) and Best Supporting Actress ( Glynis Johns ) , but won none . '' Behold A Pale Horse '' ( 1964 ) was a post-Spanish Civil War epic based on the book '' Killing A Mouse on Sunday '' by Emeric Pressburger and starred Gregory Peck , Anthony Quinn and Omar Sharif , but was both a critical and commercial flop ; Zinnemann would later admit that the film " did n't really come together . " In 1965 he was a member of the jury at the 4th Moscow International Film Festival
4th Moscow International Film Festival
4th Moscow International Film Festival
Fred Zinnemann