As the start of production neared, Ava Gardner got cold feet about co-starring with Clark Gable, whom she had idolized since childhood. Arthur Hornblow asked Gable to call her, and he told her: "I'm supposed to talk you into doing this thing. But I'm not going to. I hated it when they did that to me. But I hope you change your mind, kid, I think it would be fun to work together." The two remained friends for life.
Clark Gable sought to make a nervous Deborah Kerr feel relaxed when shooting commenced. He sent her six dozen roses on the first day, and the two hit it off beautifully from the beginning, on and off the set.
The character portrayed by Sydney Greenstreet allegedly was based on the CEO of American Tobacco in the 1940s, whose relentless slogans were drilled into the radio audience: "LS/MFT: Yes, Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco" and, when the cigarette package changed from forest green to white, in order to appeal to women, "Lucky Strike Green has gone to war!"
Clark Gable initially turned down the film after reading the script. He said of the book, "It's filthy and it isn't entertainment." He accepted the role only after major alterations were made in the story, including changing Deborah Kerr's character from a married woman to a widow, and the toning down of the novel's sharp indictment of Madison Avenue.