I'm thinking of the Bogie/Bacall movie "To Have and Have Not"  His character was supposed to have a "thing" for the\nfrench woman in the film, but Bacall came in, and walked off\nwith the picture.  She was supposed to be a 2nd fiddle, and\nbecame the 1st.  Hemmingway wrote the french woman as the most important woman, but she ended up becoming the 2nd\nmost important woman.  Hope this help!