 Howard Hawks (qv) had said in interviews that he was supposed to  direct _Casablanca (1942)_ (qv) and Michael Curtiz (qv) was  supposed to direct _Sergeant York (1941)_ (qv). The directors had  lunch together, where Hawks said he didnt know how to make this  "musical comedy", while Curtiz didnt know anything about "those  hill people." They switched projects. Hawks struggled on how to  direct the scenes that involved singing, namely the "La  Marseillaise" scene. It is ironic to note that most of his other  films involved at least one singing scene.