For the first of her collaborations with Wyler, Lillian Hellman adapted her play The Children’s Hour—of which he would later direct a second version. This telling, per its title, shifts the emphasis of the central scandal from sapphic intimations onto the attraction of schoolteachers Miriam Hopkins and Merle Oberon for eligible male Joel McCrea. Nevertheless, Wyler plunges into deep emotions and potent confrontations, most notably with malicious student Bonita Granville.