The problem was, Don got so involved in the geography that he completely forgot about the story. When he came back, the script had to be rewritten, which is what we did together.Don always needed an opponent, either the studio or a producer. He liked going to the locations and planning everything around them This is what happened on Coogan’s Bluff. If the story was set in New York, then he’d go and live there I’m the opposite. I prefer concentrating on the story and making the necessary adjustments afterwards. He liked them, and that’s how our association started.We only had one argument, right at the beginning Don always insisted on writing the story where it was set. They screened for me his two previous movies for Universal, Madigan and Stranger on the Run.

When he found out about this, Don asked to see the films I’d made with Sergio. The only one I vaguely knew was Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It was time for me to move on and try something new.When Coogan’s Bluff came up, Don Siegel heard I’d asked to see some of his movies. I would have liked doing Once Upon a Time in the West if I hadn’t done the three westerns before. After the premiere of Bird at Cannes, I went to see him in Italy and we spent a great day together.

I think he held it against me for having turned down Charles Bronson’s part in Once Upon a Time in the West, then the part of an Irish gangster in Once Upon a Time in America. Sergio liked to say there were fights on the set; but that wasn’t true in this case. Later he got a little jealous because I was more prolific than he was It was neither his fault nor mine. But he had his own vision of what a western should be, and some of his ideas were truly crazy Sometimes I’d have to intervene to keep the ship on course But we made a good team We were on the same wavelength. I remember that Lee Van Cleef thought Sergio was completely crazy when we started making For a Few Dollars More.