The dream sequence was to be produced by poverty-row studio Monogram, and met with rejections by producer
David O. Selznick.
Alfred Hitchcock originally wanted
Josef von Sternberg to shoot it, but he ended by directing it himself, working closely with Dali.While the movie was in production, Selznick promoted it as "Dali's Dream", capitalizing on Dali's recognition by the American public and the press. On his interviews with François Truffaut (for a book published in 1966), Hitchcock says:
"When we got to the dream sequences, I really wanted to break with the tradition of cinematic dreams which are usually hazy and confusing, with the screen shaking, etc. I asked Selznick to make sure the Salvador Dali's collaboration. Selznick agreed but I'm sure he thought I wanted Dali because of the publicity it would give us. The only reason was my desire to achieve very visual dreams with sharp, clear strokes , in an image clearer than that of the film precisely. I wanted Dali because of the sharp aspect of his architecture (...) - the long shadows, the infinity of the distances, the lines which converge towards the perspective... the shapeless faces... Naturally, Dali invented some rather strange things that it was not possible to achieve. I was anxious because the production did not want to make certain expenses. I would have liked to shoot Dali's dreams on location so that everything would be flooded with light and become terribly high-pitched, but I was refused this and had to shoot in the studio."
