Preston Sturges the same scene. A tender love scene between Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck in "The Lady Eve" was enlivened by a horse, which repeatedly poked its nose into Fonda's head. Prior to Sturges, other figures in Hollywood (such as Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and Frank Capra) had directed films from their own scripts, however Sturges is often regarded as the first Hollywood figure to establish success as a screenwriter and then move into directing his own scripts, at a time when those roles were separate. Sturges famously sold the story for "The Great McGinty" to Paramount Pictures for $1, in
Christmas in July (film) work to assign him, including doctoring the script of "Diamond Jim". Once that task was completed, Sturges' mentor at the studio, producer Henry Henigson, left, leaving nobody at Universal to champion Sturges' film. Once Sturges himself moved to Paramount, he made a deal with the studio to buy the script for $6,000. William Holden and Betty Fields were to have played the leads, with Arthur Hornblow Jr. as producer. Production on "Christmas in July" began on June 1st, 1940 and continued through June 29th. According to author Donald Spoto in his book "Madcap: The Life of Preston Sturges", Sturges directed