Goldwyn announced Miriam Hopkins would play the dual roles of Lotta Morgan and Lotta Bostrom, but Hawks was not happy with his choice. He looked at numerous screen tests of aspiring starlets and finally settled on Andrea Leeds, who previously had played minor or uncredited roles in a handful of films. Eventually he replaced her with the even less experienced Frances Farmer and cast Leeds in the supporting role of Ewie Glasgow, Richard's younger sister, instead. Goldwyn tried to borrow Spencer Tracy from MGM for the lead role of Barney Glasgow, but Louis B. Mayer refused to let him work for his chief rival, so contract player Edward Arnold was assigned the role.