 The book was previously adapted as a live TV production, screened by NBC and sponsored by Kraft Foods as part of the "Kraft Television Theatre" strand on 28 March 1956.It has been described as "the biggest, most lavish, most expensive thing of its kind" attempted up to that point, with 31 sets, 107 actors, 72 speaking parts, 3,000 gallons of water and costing $95,000 ($ at present-day prices).George Roy Hill directed and Claude Rains provided a narration – a practice borrowed from radio dramas which provided a template for many television dramas of the time.