Krasna wrote a serious play, The Man with Blond Hair, which received a tepid response.
He said that Moss Hart suggested he write a commercial comedy instead along the lines of Junior Miss.
Krasna based the family in the play on that of Groucho Marx, who was a good friend and occasional collaborator.
[4] Film rights were sold for a reported $450,000 with the proviso that a movie not be made until the play finished a two-year run.
Dear Ruth was also published as an Armed Services Edition, distributed to American servicemen during World War II.