Billy Wilder had arrived in Hollywood in 1934 shortly after directing his first film, the French language "Mauvaise Graine". During the ensuing years, he and Charles Brackett had collaborated on eight screenplays, including "Ninotchka" and "Ball of Fire", but Wilder was anxious to direct again and producer Arthur Hornblow Jr. agreed to give him a chance. Wilder was determined to make a mainstream film that would be a box-office success so he would not be relegated to a typewriter for the rest of his career. Paramount Pictures owned the screen rights to the play "Connie Goes Home", which Wilder thought was the perfect vehicle for Ginger Rogers, and he and Brackett wrote the role of Philip Kirby with Cary Grant in mind. Their dialogue includes the oft-quoted line "Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?"