Edward Small bought the film rights to the book for $50,000[2] and believed that the story could provide an ideal vehicle for his new star Louis Hayward.[3]Lenore Coffee, who wrote the script, said that Small "was a rather ignorant man, but he had inklings and hunches ... I liked him very much. He had a hunch about My Son, My Son! and he bought it. He had never bought an elegant story before."[4]
Production of the film was temporarily halted with the outbreak of World War II.[5]
^"Marshall Will Play in 'My Son, My Son': Europe Lures Notables Students Belittle Stars Tommy Kelly Assigned Ann Sheridan's New Role" Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times March 28, 1939: 15.
^McGilligan, Patrick (1986). "Lenore Coffee: Easy Smiler, Easy Weeper". In McGilligan, Patrick (ed.). Backstory: Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age. p. 146.
^"PRODUCERS GIRD FOR WAR: The Cinema Capital Contemplates Its Probable Effects Upon the Industry" by DOUGLAS W. CHURCHILL. New York Times September 10, 1939: X3.
