Lee Tracy

According to Desi Arnaz, Tracy stood on a balcony in Mexico City and urinated on a military parade that was passing below. In his autobiography, Arnaz, who worked on the picture, claimed that from then on, if one watched the crowds, they would visibly disperse any time an American stepped out onto a balcony.

However, other crew members there at the time disputed this story, giving a sharply different account of events. In his autobiography, Charles G. Clarke, the cinematographer on the picture, said that he was standing outside the hotel during the parade and the incident never happened. Tracy, he said, was standing on the balcony observing the parade when a Mexican in the street below made an obscene gesture at him. Tracy replied in kind, and the next day a local newspaper printed a story that, in effect, Tracy had insulted Mexico, Mexicans in general and the Mexican flag in particular. The story caused an uproar in Mexico, and MGM decided to sacrifice Tracy in order to be allowed to continue filming there. Original director Howard Hawks was fired for refusing to testify against Tracy, and subsequently replaced by Jack Conway. Tracy was replaced by Stuart Erwin. Read Less