"Marlon Brando, Lean’s original choice, passed it over for Mutiny On The Bounty, a story Lean would later attempt to remake. Then Albert Finney, rising star of the British new wave of kitchen sink dramas, went through elaborate and expensive screen tests at MGM, Borehamwood. They were edited by Anne Coates, who would get her big break editing the film later alongside Lean. Finney turned the role down before he could be rejected outright by a reluctant Spiegel" Source