In 1963 , the film rights to '' The Gay Place '' were sold to Paul Newman , who intended to play Roy Sherwood . Columbia Pictures agreed to finance it , and Jackie Gleason , who had just played opposite Newman in The Hustler , was cast as Arthur Fenstemaker . Work started on a script , and location scouting . However , the assassination of President Kennedy later that year caused these plans to be dropped
assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
The Gay Place