 Sturges was assigned to write a script based on Hoffe's story in 1938, with Claudette Colbert expected to be the star.Sturges and Paramount producer Albert Lewin had some written disagreement in 1939 about the development of the script, with Lewin writing to Sturges, "the first two-thirds of the script, in spite of the high quality of your jokes, will require an almost one hundred percent rewrite.