The Painted Desert selected Higgin to direct the film, as well as naming the stars of the film, William Boyd and Dorothy Burgess. Later in the month it was reported that Higgin would head to Arizona to begin location scouting for the film, accompanied by fellow director, Tay Garnett, however in August Higgin began scouting in the Arizona desert with the screenwriter, Tom Buckingham. It was announced that the film would employ over 300 extras. Higgin was familiar with the area, having working in and around Flagstaff, Arizona as a lumberjack prior to his entering the film industry. Towards the end of August
U S Navy Flag of 6/1 in a field of four runners which included two stablemates in Gustav Klimt and Kenya. Ridden by Seamie Heffernan, U S Navy Flag raced in second place early in the race but dropped away to finish last of the four runners. The race was run on heavy going and O'Brien stated "We knew US Navy Flag would hate the ground, but we needed to get him out [he] might go to the English or French Guineas and he'll grow another leg between now and then." On 16 November 2017 at the Cartier Racing Awards, U S Navy Flag