 The original plans for filming this property in 1945 for United  Artists included Mary Martin (from the original cast) with Frank  Sinatra, Clifton Webb and Bert Lahr with Sam Coslow producing for  Mary Pickford. Pickford felt that only Clifton Webb had any box  office pull and she was hesitant to commit two million dollars of  her own money to production. After much indecision she finally sold  the rights to Lester Cowan at Universal. The Universal version  appeared in 1947 with Ava Gardner.