Production
The film began as a screenplay called Bogart Slept Here (essentially the story of what happened to Dustin Hoffman after he became a star) that was to star Robert De Niro and Mason for Warner Bros. It would have been the film De Niro made immediately after Taxi Driver. Mike Nichols was hired to direct.
Simon recalled the original idea for the film:
The basic idea of the story was that Marsha, an ex-dancer, was married to a very promising but struggling off-Broadway actor who gets discovered in a small play and is whisked out to Hollywood, where he reluctantly moves with his family. He feels very out of place there...and they have trouble adjusting, especially after his first film makes him an international star...and it creates chaos in their marriage. The story was coming out a little darker than I had imagined, but I envisioned the character of the wife as a very good role for Marsha.
Filming began on Bogart Slept Here but it became apparent that De Niro was not right for the role. Simon recalled: "...it was clear that any of the humor I had written was going to get lost. It's not that De Niro is not funny, but his humor comes mostly from his nuances, a bemused expression on his face or the way he would look at a character, smile and then look up at the ceiling." Nichols insisted on recasting De Niro. As De Niro recalled “I didn’t know certain types of things, it was a certain type of comedy –Neil Simon- the timing had to be a certain way, I didn’t feel enthused by it ... It wasn’t working. I shot for about two weeks. I had about three times in my life where I had that experience with a director, where we can’t make them happy — so this was one of them. I was sitting in my camper, you feel this dread. I was going to offer my salary to keep us going for another week of rehearsals. (Nichols) said 'I think we’re going to have to end it.' He felt terrible. He was really upset.” Soon after, Nichols left the project.
Dreyfuss was brought in to audition with Mason. At the end of the reading, Simon decided the chemistry was there, but the script needed work. He rewrote the screenplay in six weeks.
[The screenplay] had to be funnier, more romantic, the way Marsha and I first imagined the picture would be. What I wanted to do was a prequel. In other words, instead of an off-Broadway actor, married with a child, why don't I start from the beginning? I'd start when they first meet. Not liking each other at first and then falling in love.
The film's exteriors were filmed in New York City and the interiors were shot on sets in Los Angeles. Warner Bros. was less than enthused about Simon's script and considered selling the project to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but the studio ultimately decided to partner with MGM on the film instead. With the 1996 acquisition of Turner Entertainment Company, which owned the pre-May 1986 MGM film library by Time Warner, Warner Bros. now owns the rights and distribution of the film.
