I, but the studio was insistent. Filming was pushed back due to the actors strike in 1960. Minnelli later claimed that he was "drafted" into making the movie, and was rushed into production before he was ready because MGM had a start date. However he managed to get the head of production, Sol Siegel, to arrange for the script to be rewritten in order to reflect the German occupation of Paris. Because Robert Ardrey was busy, MGM hired John Gay to do rewrites of an outline prepared by Minnelli, which showed the weaknesses as he saw them. "Gay proved to be an enormous help," wrote Minnelli later. "The script – with the dreadful World War II setting – took shape. But I never justified the updating in my mind." Pre-production commenced in Paris. Minnelli wrote he flew back to the US and tried to talk the studio into changing the time period once again, but it refused. "I began to believe I was the victim of a studio set up," he wrote. Casting Early contenders for the male lead, the part originally played by Rudolph Valentino, were MGM contractee George Hamilton, and Maximilian Schell. Minnelli said that he wanted Alain Delon for the starring role and met with the young actor in Rome, but the producers did not feel that he was well enough known. In June 1960, it was announced that Glenn Ford, who had a long relationship with MGM and had recently signed a new contract with the studio, would play the lead role. Minnelli later reflected, "There I was, stuck with a story I didn't want to do, with a leading actor who lacked the brashness and impulsiveness I associated with his part. I wanted new challenges but I didn't think they'd be that challenging." However, he said that the rest of the cast "was as brilliant as it was international." Yvette Mimieux was cast in the ingenue part with Charles Boyer and Claude Dauphin in support, and Ava Gardner in the female lead, the part played by Alice Terry in the 1921 film. Eventually Gardner dropped out and Ingrid Thulin, best known for Wild Strawberries, stepped in. The studio wanted Horst Buchholz to play the young German son but he was unable to do it because of his commitment to make Fanny (1961) and so Karlheinz Böhm instead was hired. Ford was paired with an older