Mark Hellinger was relatively new on staff at Warner Brothers and had been given various B-picture writing and producing assignments. According to Hellinger's biography, after initially reading Hellinger's story for this film, studio head
Jack L. Warner and
Hal B. Wallis became so excited that they considered the project too good for Hellinger to produce.
Hal B. Wallis became Executive Producer of the film and told Hellinger he would give him the title of Associate Producer. It wasn't until after the film was released that Hellinger saw that screen credit for Associate Producer had gone to
Samuel Bischoff. It didn't matter to Hellinger, however, as the film was unanimously praised by critics and was a financial success. (Source: Biography "The Mark Hellinger Story" by
Jim Bishop)
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