Selznick also wrote the screenplay for director John Cromwell's epic, three-hour work, based upon Margaret Buell Wilder's 1943 novel: "Since You Went Away: Letters to a Soldier from His Wife" - composed of a collection of letters from homefront wife Wilder to her overseas husband while he was away at war.Lean admitted that almost all of the film's movement was from left to right, to emphasize he journey theme of the film.General Sternwood wanted to see me.On the way in, he meets one of the General's two alluring and sexy daughters, the younger, troubled, errant, thumb-biting, frequently doped-up nymphomaniacal heiress Carmen (Martha Vickers), wearing a white polka-dot miniskirt.It says here, you, uh, killed a man with your bare hands.We don't use hands here, we use guns.Oh, and I'll tell ya another thing we use for cons who don't toe the mark.The whip! Understand?"He was paired with long-timer cellmate Hunk Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy), a grumpy, washed-up ex-country western singer who had been in jail for 8 years.