Working with Bing Crosby proved to be problematic from the start. Between scenes he barely interacted with leading lady Joan Fontaine, on loan from RKO Radio Pictures, who later recalled: "Crosby wasn't very courteous to me ... There was never the usual costar rapport. I was a star at that time, but he treated me like he'd never heard of me." The singer tended to ignore his director as well. According to Fontaine: "It wasn't that he had anything against Mr. Wilder. He just didn't pay much attention to him. He told me once that he had some trouble understanding his funny accent." Worst of all, Crosby tended to alter his dialogue, saying it "as he felt it at the moment", and Wilder was known for insisting his lines be delivered exactly as written. "Bing Crosby operated for himself, not for the group or the film", Wilder recalled. "He was a big star, the biggest, and he thought he knew what was good for him."