In 1949 "Variety" reported that Rooney had renegotiated his deal with MGM. He agreed to make one film a year for them for five years at $25,000 a movie (his fee until then had been $100,000, but Rooney wanted to enter independent production.) Rooney claimed he was unhappy with the billing MGM gave him for "Words and Music", but his career was in a slump, and his "New York Times" obituary reported, "at one point in 1950, the only job he could get was touring Southern states with the Hadacol Caravan," promoting a patent medicine that was later forced off the market.