After directing several inconsequential films, William Wyler was happy to get a prestigious project based on a play that had enjoyed successful runs on Broadway and in Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Producer Carl Laemmle Jr. paid $150,000 for the screen rights, then an unusually high price, and to ensure the film’s success he hired Elmer Rice to adapt his own play. In earlyAugust 1933, Wyler met Rice in Mexico City, where he was vacationing with his family, for discussions about the script. Rice was loath to mix business with pleasure and assured the director he would begin working...