 Director Lewis Milestone (qv) needed to persuade Columbia Pictures  president Harry Cohn (I) (qv) to hire actor  John Gilbert (I) (qv) for this picture. At the time it was  generally believed that Gilberts voice recorded higher in pitch  than suited his masculine silent screen image, but Milestone  believed that Gilberts voice recorded higher in pitch because of  the actors anxiety at having to test for MGM as a means of  defending his exorbitant salary there. Gilbert agreed to submit to a  new voice