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
German submarine U-505 one botched patrol her crew found a sign painted in the docking area reading: ""U-505"s Hunting Ground". At a time when many U-boats were being sunk, "U-505"s commander, "Kptlt." Zschech, overheard another U-boat commander joke, "There is one commander who will always come back ... Zschech." After ten months in Lorient, "U-505" departed for her tenth Atlantic patrol, seeking to break her run of bad luck and bad morale. On 24 October 1943, not long after crossing the Bay of Biscay, "U-505" was spotted by British destroyers east of the Azores and was forced to submerge and endure a severe