Dietrich, then at the peak of her career as a Las Vegas entertainer, turned down an invitation from Columbia chief Harry Cohn to play the rich, seductive Vera Simpson.

Kelly was promised the title role in the movie version of the hit musical in which he'd made a hit in 1940. It took so long to get the movie project going that Kelly was by then a star at MGM and lost the role.

Stanwyck was thought of for the role of of Vera Simpson.