 The original ending of the film called for Joe and Mabel to be shot  to death, but the commercial failure of  _You Only Live Once (1937)_ (qv), which had a tragic ending,  compelled the Warner Bros. studio heads to demand a happy ending.  When writer Rossen, Robert (qv) refused to write the new ending,  Miller, Seton I. (qv) was brought in to write it.