Once the toned-down screenplay was finished and Clark Gable's comfort with it secured, producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr. made his final casting decisions and "assembled an exceptional supporting cast" featuring Sidney Greenstreet, Adolphe Menjou and Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn and the then "still-unknown Ava Gardner." MGM executives had selected "The Hucksters" as the debut Hollywood film for Kerr, who had drawn attention for her appearances in ten films in her native England since 1941, causing production to be "rushed by Louis B. Mayer, who wanted to release it the following August, trying to revive Gable's name after the flop of "Adventure", his last film and launching Deborah's in Hollywood."