Page "20th Century Fox" Paragraph 24

With few pictures on the schedule, Skouras wanted to rush Zanuck's big-budget war epic The Longest Day, a highly accurate account of the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, with a huge international cast, into release as another source of quick cash.

This offended Zanuck, still Fox's largest shareholder, for whom The Longest Day was a labor of love that he had dearly wanted to produce for years.

After it became clear that Something's Got to Give would not be able to progress without Monroe in the lead ( Martin had refused to work with anyone else ), Skouras finally decided that something had to give and re-signed her.

But days before filming was due to resume, she was found dead at her Los Angeles home and the unfinished scenes from Something's Got to Give were shelved for nearly 40 years.

Rather than being rushed into release as if it were a B-picture, The Longest Day was lovingly and carefully produced under Zanuck's supervision.

It was finally released at a length of three hours, and went on to be recognized as one of the great World War II films.