 When the studio delayed going forward with the project due to production and casting issues for three years, Oscar Saul backed out, and Columbia announced in 1955 that Gottfried Reinhardt had been commissioned to write a new screenplay.In 1958, veteran producer William Goetz took over the project with Oscar Millard as his screenwriter.Charles Vidor, who previously directed "A Song to Remember" (1945), a biopic of Frédéric Chopin, was assigned to direct using elements of all three screenwriters' scripts.