Leading lady Olivia de Havilland absolutely hated the role. She had not wanted to do the picture in the first place, but was forced into it by an arrangement whereby Warner Bros. loaned her services to David O. Selznick, who turned her over to RKO. Her distaste for the arrangement is evident in the wide variety of grimaces, smirks and other expressions she used to avoid creating a character of any depth or credibility.