Filming started with Jean Aurel in the director's chair, in what would have been his feature directing debut. However Aurel quickly ran afoul with the cast & crew, and after three weeks, star Brigitte Bardot told the producers she'd quit if he wasn't replaced. The producers, dismayed with how the film was shaping, quickly agreed and Roger Vadim was approached. Vadim took the film on as a favor to Bardot and associate producer Francis Cosne, rewrote the script with Claude Brulé and kept a few bits filmed by Aurel to not let three weeks of work go completely to waste. Aurel remains completely uncredited in the film, be it for the script or directing.