July 23, 1962 - Lewis Milestone, who was fired over the weekend as director of “PT-109,” denied today that he had been ousted because he was making the film too expensively in Florida. Mr. Milestone declared that Warner Brothers released him after he repeatedly insisted on important improvements in the screenplay. The film about President Kennedy’s exploits as commander of a PT boat during World War II has been adapted from Robert J. Donovan’s book, “PT-109.” As far back as April 30, Mr. Milestone pointed out, he had written to producer Bryan Foy and expressed strong dissatisfaction with the script. The director has made a number of war pictures, including “All Quiet on the Western Front.” He has been replaced by Les Martinson, whose experience is mainly in television.
