 M-G-M studios, alarmed by the competition that the Sternberg-Dietrich phenomena posed to star Greta Garbo, responded with the copycat Mata Hari the same year.Production schedules, as well as some reticence on the part of actor Gary Cooper to work with the demanding director, prevented Sternberg from casting Cooper opposite Dietrich.His substitute, actor Victor McLaglen, was not as popular a co-star for Dietrich.