He is introduced to psychopathic Bruno Anthony, portrayed by Robert Walker, who suggests they swap murders, with Bruno killing Guy's wife and Guy disposing of Bruno's father. As with "Rope", there was a homosexual subtext to the two men's relationship, although it was toned down from Patricia Highsmith's original novel. Granger and Walker, whose wife Jennifer Jones had recently left him for David O. Selznick, became close friends and confidantes during filming, and Granger was devastated when Walker died from an accidental combination of alcohol and barbiturates prior to the film's release. It proved to be a box office hit, the first major success of Granger's career, and his "happiest filmmaking experience". On December 31, 1950, Granger picked up close friend Shelley Winters to escort her to Sam Spiegel's traditional New Year's Eve gala. The actress kept him waiting for nearly two hours, and they argued while en route to the party. Once there, they went their separate ways, and Granger met Ava Gardner. The two left to hear Nat King Cole perform at a nearby nightclub and then went to Granger's home, where they began an intense affair that lasted until Gardner began filming "Show Boat" a month later. Having reconciled, Granger and Winters went to New York City, where they audited classes at the Actors Studio and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. Winters subscribed to the concept of method acting, but Granger felt an actor "had to be faithful to the text, not adapt it to some personal sense memory," and their disagreement triggered more arguments. Their plan to pursue individual training programs was disrupted when both were called back to Hollywood. Goldwyn cast Granger in "I Want You", a drama about the effect the Korean War has on an American family still trying to recover from World War II. Granger thought the screenplay by Irwin Shaw was "not only dull, but felt dated," but welcomed the opportunity to work with Dana Andrews and Dorothy McGuire. Goldwyn expected the film to be as successful as "The Best Years of Our Lives", but it proved to be as "tepid and old-fashioned" as Granger feared and, opening after cease-fire negotiations with Korea had begun, no longer topical, and it died at the box office. His subsequent projects – a screwball comedy with Winters called "Behave Yourself!", the "Gift of the Magi" segment of the anthology film "O. Henry's Full House", and the musical film "Hans Christian Andersen" – were no more successful.