By the time Ray signed with United Artists, he had grown tired of playing young country bumpkin characters in comedy films. In an effort to change his image to that of a romantic leading man, Ray decided to produce an epic historical drama film based on "The Courtship of Miles Standish", an 1858 narrative poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem centers around a love triangle between early American settlers John Alden, Miles Standish, and Priscilla Mullens. In November 1922, Ray announced that he would portray the lead role of John Alden in the film. He stated, "There will be immense satisfaction to me in playing a real character, not the puppet of some author's invention."