Burnett was paid both for the rights to and to write "Nobody Lives Forever" as a starring vehicle for Humphrey Bogart. Due to a clause in his contracts stipulating that films had to be made in a certain period or he could take back ownership, the story reverted back to him. He immediately sold it for serialization in "Colliers" magazine in 1943. He then sold the hardcover book rights to Alfred Knopf publishing in 1945. Warners then paid him again for the rights to the story, and also paid him to write the screenplay. He was paid five (5) times for the same story, which was the kind of savvy wheeling and dealing that made him a rich man.
