It was also known as Never to Love and was based on a 1921 British play of the same name written by Clemence Dane that had been filmed in 1932 with John Barrymore and Katharine Hepburn.

He has regained his sanity but finds that his strong-willed daughter Sydney, now an adult, is planning to marry and that his wife has divorced him.

The film was announced in November 1939 with the lead roles allocated to Adolphe Menjou and Maureen O'Hara.

Producer Robert Sisk and director John Farrow had made a number of films together, including the popular Five Came Back (1939).

[3][4] In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Theodore Strauss wrote: "Under the restrained direction of John Farrow, the performances of an ably selected cast are fused into a film that is continuously eloquent and moving.