Despite the vote of approval, Fox executives did not hold much stock in the film's commercial appeal and even Borzage refused to direct it. But Fox pressured Borzage into accepting the assignment since his contract was about to expire and was not expected to be renewed. The studio further showed its lack of enthusiasm for the project by budgeting less than $100,000 for the production and hiring unknown actors. As a result, Borzage had a "fairly free hand" in the production.