McQueen, Newman, and William Holden all wanted
top billing. Holden was refused, his long-term standing as a box office draw having been eclipsed by both McQueen and Newman. To provide dual top billing, the credits were arranged diagonally, with McQueen lower left and Newman upper right. Thus, each appeared to have "first" billing depending on whether the credit was read left-to-right or top-to-bottom.[SUP]
[22][/SUP] This was the first time this "staggered but equal" billing was used in a movie although it had been considered earlier for the same two actors regarding
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid until McQueen turned the
Sundance Kid role down. McQueen is mentioned first in the film's trailers. In the cast list rolling from top to bottom at the film's end, however, McQueen and Newman's names were arranged diagonally as at the beginning; as a consequence, Newman's name is fully visible first there.
