Both directors received screen credit for their work.[William Keighley had previously directed top-billed Flynn in the Warner Bros"" costume dramaThe Prince and the Pauper (1937)a year earlier.The original story by blacklisted scriptwriter Nedrick Young (credited as Nathan E.Douglas), who had refused to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee, was adapted by Harold Jacob Smith.It won""t get ya into heaven, but it""ll comfort ya on the way there - that is, if you use it right." He cups her chin in his hand.Then, he concludes with one final prayer, with Pearl on her knees again:Oh, Lord, have mercy on all men - young and old alike - who gaze upon this, Thy regained servant.] The action occurs on the occasion of the 65th birthday of ""Big Daddy"" Pollitt (Burl Ives reprising his stage role) - the patriarchal plantation head (who is secretly suffering from terminal cancer), when the greater Pollitt family gathers and inevitably quarrels - greedily - over he granting of the expected inheritance.