 George Arliss (qv) asked Warner Bros. to buy the play on which  this film was based while he was under contract there in 1931.  Warners bought the play but did not make the film. When Arliss left  Warners, he convinced Darryl F. Zanuck (qv) to purchase the play  from Warners for 20th Century Pictures, where it was eventually  made.