 This was the only film directed by playwright and stage director  George S. Kaufman (qv). Kaufman directed the film in the same  manner that he directed in the theater by closing his eyes and  listening only to the actors speaking the dialogue, with no regard  to how the scene looked. Since Kaufman knew nothing about the  technical aspects of filmmaking, associate producer  Gene Fowler Jr. (qv) looked after those issues, with Kaufman  allowing Fowler to cut a take at his discretion if there was a  technical problem.