 Howard Hawks (qv)s take on his being "fired" is that he wasnt.  Rather, he quit, after refusing to agree with Samuel Goldwyn (qv),  who wanted the narrative to stay closer to that of the book. Goldwyn  had been ill and absent for the 42 days of shooting that Hawks  directed and was unaware of Hawks rewrites. Hawks left the  production with only 14 days left to go.