United Artists were interested in buying the script. Henry Koster, who had directed several comedies written by Johnson at Fox, read the script and loved it and pressured Richard Zanuck at Fox to buy it; Zanuck was keen but wanted his father Daryl to read it first. Daryl did not get around to reading it and Johnson decided to sell to United Artists. This upset Daryl Zanuck who felt he had been misled and ended the formerly close relationship between him and Johnson.