It seems more likely she was paid Sophia Loren $200,000, still a huge amount in those days ($1.9million today) and it is claimed more than C.Heston received

The Ben-Hur and El Cid tough guy refused to make eye contact with Sophia Loren during their love scenes. For the deathbed scene, he later claimed he had been “looking into the future” rather than face his co-star. Even the critics noticed in their reviews.

Heston was one of the titans of Hollywood, bestriding the big screen as he faced down speeding chariots and spoke to God in all his chiselled glory. Most people, actors or otherwise, might have been thrilled to spent time with the Italian siren. The world was in love with her in 1960 and yet Heston was not impressed by her beauty or her talent. She had set Hollywood alight since she signed her original Paramount five-picture deal in 1956. Starring roles opposite Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Sinatra followed in films like It Happened In Naples, Houseboat, The Pride and the Passion, and The Millionairess with Peter Sellers. She was as skilled at drama as comedy with a powerful physical presence and would win the first-ever acting Oscar for a film not in the English language for Two Women (La Ciociara) the year after El Cid. So what went wrong with Heston?

Heston also came into the film a major star and an Oscar-winner in 1959 for Ben-Hur. The director’s first choice for the title and central role, he clearly felt a sense of ownership over his involvement with El Cid. He had enough power that he responded to early drafts of the script that they were “ranging from minimally OK to crappy.”

But then Loren was brought on board. Equally famous, equally acclaimed – and equally strong-willed and opinionated. She wanted the script rewritten with more romantic scenes for her character, Doña Ximena. She would only agree to film for 8-10 weeks so the shooting schedule had to be rearranged to suit her. And she demanded a huge payday.

Some reports have claimed that Loren was paid an enormous $1million for the role, but that didn’t happen until 1964’s The Fall of the Roman Empire.

It seems more likely she was paid $200,000, still a huge amount in those days ($1.9million today). And it is claimed more than Heston received.

Loren also negotiated $200 a week for her personal hairdresser, brought in her own screenwriter and had the script translated into Italian and then back into an English she was more comfortable with.

Her co-star was not happy and did not try to hide it.

In fact, he demanded that a stand-in was hired to take his place in any close-up scenes that only showed Loren’s face. As the situation deteriorated, director Antony Mann struggled to get the alpha male actor to look at Loren at all.

Charlton Heston: Hollywood’s Last Icon by Marc Eliot recounts that Loren’s diva antics “really got him angry,” according to producer Peter Snell.

So much so that Heston was “most uncomfortable” during any love scenes and would, in future, turn down roles that might involve them sharing the screen again.

Mann shot take after take but Heston could barely bear to glance at Loren during passionate scenes and even in the climactic deathbed scene. He would later insist that he was “looking into the future”, rather than into the eyes of his wife.

It was picked up by subsequent reviews, with one saying that “Miss Loren and Heston spend most of the picture simply glaring at each other.”

Heston was also vocally unhappy with the fact that he dramatically aged throughout the movie while his glamorous co-star (with her expensive hairdresser in tow) remained resolutely beautiful.

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