 Lehman ’ s story had originally appeared in a 1950 issue of Cosmopolitan , renamed " Tell Me About It Tomorrow ! " because the editor of the magazine did not want the word " smell " in the publication . It was based on his own experiences working as an assistant to Irving Hoffman , a prominent New York press agent and columnist for The Hollywood Reporter . Hoffman subsequently did not speak to Lehman for a year and a half . Hoffman then wrote a column for The Hollywood Reporter speculating that Lehman would make a good screenwriter , and within a week Paramount called Lehman , inviting him to Los Angeles for talks . Lehman went on to forge a notable screenwriting career in Hollywood , writing Executive Suite , Sabrina , North by Northwest , The Sound of Music , West Side Story , The King and I , and Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? . 
