Working titles for "Trouble in Paradise" included "The Honest Finder," "Thieves and Lovers," and "The Golden Widow"; the latter was publicly announced to be the intended release title. As with all the Lubitsch-Raphaelson collaborations, Lubitsch contributed to the writing and Raphaelson contributed ideas to the directing. Lubitsch did not receive screen credit for his writing, and Grover Jones, who was credited with the adaptation, did not contribute significantly: although he was in the room, his credit was based on a contractual obligation, and he did little more than tell stories. Further, although supposedly based on László Aladár's 1931 play "The Honest Finder", Lubitsch suggested that Raphaelson not read the play, and instead the main character, Herbert Marshall's master thief, was based on the exploits of a real person, George Manolescu, a Romanian con man whose memoir was published in 1905, and became the basis for two silent films.