 The film was originally announced as "Broadway Melody of 1944" to follow MGM's "Broadway Melody" films of 1929, 1936, 1938, and 1940.It was originally slated to star Eleanor Powell and Gene Kelly, but Louis B. Mayer and MGM loaned Kelly out to Columbia to play opposite Rita Hayworth in "Cover Girl" (1944).The film instead starred George Murphy, who had appeared in "Broadway Melody of 1938" and "Broadway Melody of 1940."