The film was James Garner's first after suing Warner Bros. to win his release from the television series "Maverick". Wyler broke an unofficial blacklist of the actor by casting him, and Garner steadily appeared in films and television shows over the following decades, including immediately playing leading roles in four different major movies released in 1963: "The Great Escape" with Steve McQueen, "The Thrill of It All" with Doris Day, "The Wheeler Dealers" with Lee Remick, and "Move Over, Darling" again with box office queen Doris Day.