[4][1] ABC were reluctant to finance the feature after the box office failure of Aldrich's last film about Hollywood, The Legend of Lylah Clare.
Aldrich decided to make a "long trailer" for the film, a 20-minute short to encourage them to provide the money.
[6] It was only the second time Aldrich tested for one of his films, the first being Ursula Andress and Richard Jaeckel on 4 for Texas (1963).
[4][1] Aldrich said he deliberately used "very stylistic sets" to "reassure" the cast that "not one inch of this test footage would wind up in the movie.
But nobody wanted this thing about a broken-down Hollywood director who found a 16 year old girl and shacked up with her and had a heart attack, etc.