According to an article in the May 25, 1959 edition of Daily Variety, Marilyn Monroe was the first choice for the lead.
The $30,000 insurance money would equate to over $261,000 in 2018.
At the beginning of the movie when Jo's mother(Squire) seeks out Victor Santini (Franciosa) to represent her daughter (Hayworth), he is listening to the TV as it is playing "Laura" (1944) where Clifton Webb as Waldo Lydecker says "I am the most widely misquoted man in America, and I resent it" before the TV is turned off.