The Big Knife
The film needed a male star. "I couldn't make "Sister George" in this market," said Aldrich around this time. "I couldn't make "Baby Jane", "Attack!" or "The Big Knife" in this market. It used to be that the script was the big thing and the actor secondary. Now it's the star. And it's got to be a big star. Get Burt Reynolds and you can shoot the telephone book."