His production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, was the most successful and innovative star-driven independent production company in Hollywood of the 1950s, making movies such as  Marty  (1955),  Trapeze  (1956), and  Sweet Smell of Success  (1957). Lancaster also directed two films:  The Kentuckian  (1955) and  The Midnight Man  (1974). In 1999, the  American Film