Originally the film was staring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, but as they didn't get along and fought about every single thing, it didn't go well. Eventually, Joan Crawford feigned illness as a power-play to get the studio to agree to her script changes, going so far as to check herself into the hospital. They instead fired her and replaced her with Olivia de Havilland after Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young, and Vivien Leigh all turned down the role.