the team of david o. selznick producer and william wellman director and and fredric march lead man and after have have a big hit the year before with a star be bear and team up again to create one of the great screwball comedy of the thirty in nothing sacred . the inspiration for this film come from the fertile imagination of ben hecht best know previously for co author another newspaper classic and the front page . hecht take it a step far and while the morning post report the news faster and good than it rival and it doesn not create the news . here the medium be satirize for create a celebrity . poor carole lombard a hazel flagg and country girl from rural vermont who be misdiagnosed by her country doctor charles winninger a have incurable radiation poisoning . it a small news item over the wire service . but when hotshot reporter fredric march get a hold of it and he convince his editor walter connolly to build up the story by bring lombard to new york and ballyhoo her into celebrity status . lombard and winninger by now know an error in diagnosis be make and but who can turn down an all expense pay trip to new york . the story just mushroom until it get away from any kind of control . the difference sometimes between comedy and drama be often so slight a to be imperceptible . there not much difference between fredric march character in nothing sacred and kirk douglas in ace in the hole . both be down on their luck newspaper people look for a comeback and both exploit a story to their own end and march comically and douglas tragically . but the plot be more similar than one realizes . even today we still hunger for our celebrity some of whom be nothing but professional celebrity . the sad life of anna nicole smith be proof of that . when you think about anna nicole smith though nothing sacred appear date it actually have a very timeless message about the power of medium to create and destroy .