 Although the onscreen credits say "original screenplay", a $200,000  lawsuit was filed against the screenwiters, MGM and producer  Joe Pasternak (qv) by playwright Ferenc Herczeg (qv) in 1949,  claiming they took the idea from his 1903 play. Herczeg was in a  Nazi concentration camp in 1942 when the film was released, and  didnt hear about it until 1948. The case was settled out of court  for a substantial amount.