Editing Written on the Wind (section)

===Development===
{{multiple image
| footer = The film and its source novel were inspired by events involving tobacco heir [[Zachary Smith Reynolds]] and his wife, [[Libby Holman]]
| image1 = Smithreynolds1931.jpg
| width1 = 146
| alt1 = Reynolds in 1931
| image2 =  Libby-Holman-1930-cropped.jpg
| width2 = 149
| alt2 = Libby Holman in 1930
| align = right}}
The film's source novel by [[Robert Wilder (novelist)|Robert Wilder]] was inspired by the life and death of [[Zachary Smith Reynolds]], son of [[R. J. Reynolds]] and heir to the [[R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company|Reynolds Tobacco]] fortune, who died from a gunshot wound to the head at his family's estate after a birthday party.{{sfn|Evans|2013|p=14}} His wife, torch singer [[Libby Holman]], and close friend Alber Walker, fell under suspicion due to conflicting accounts given about the night's events, though neither were ever formally charged with a crime.{{sfn|Evans|2013|p=14}}

The novel had been optioned for a feature film adaptation by [[RKO Pictures]] in 1945 before the rights were sold to [[International Pictures]] the following year after RKO shelved the project.{{sfn|Evans|2013|p=14}} In 1946, [[Universal Pictures]] acquired the rights to the novel after absorbing International Pictures; however, the project remained in limbo due to pressure from the Reynolds family, who threatened to launch a lawsuit against any film version of Wilder's novel.{{sfn|Evans|2013|p=14}}

In 1955, producer [[Albert Zugsmith]], convinced the project could be a huge success for the studio, hired [[George Zuckerman]] to adapt a screenplay, though a number of notable changes were necessitated to avoid a lawsuit from the Reynolds family: several characters were eliminated or had their ages changed; the Hadley family fortune, which in the novel had been acquired from tobacco, was instead from oil; and its setting changed from [[North Carolina]] to Texas.{{sfn|Evans|2013|pages=14–16}} Several drafts of the screenplay were submitted to the [[Motion Picture Production Code]] before it was passed in late 1955.{{sfn|Evans|2013|pages=16–17}}