 Irving Thalberg had worked on the film since 1930 when he assigned three different writers to come up with three different treatments.By 1931 Thalberg had decided on the one storyline and spent the next four years working on a script with two dozen writers, half a dozen directors and three supervisors.Gable had several temper tantrums on the set, which were tolerated by MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer because the star had recently won an Academy Award for Best Actor in "It Happened One Night" (1934) on a loan-out to Columbia Pictures, and he did not want to risk losing him.