According to an article in the Los Angeles Examiner in 1945, Goulding was initially attached to direct.

In the Jezebel DVD commentary, film historian Jeannine Basinger says Goulding was first attached to the film, but Jack Warner thought his approach was too old-fashioned. Goulding had previously directed Bette Davis and Henry Fonda in That Certain Woman in 1937.

Replaced as director after he had a heart attack. Although Goulding had help develop the script, he received no screen credit. Vincent Sherman says on the DVD commentary that he had to accept a lot of Goulding's choices eg casting, set, since Sherman was a less establishd director.