Katharine Hepburn asked costume designer Walter Plunkett to copy a dress her maternal grandmother wore in a tintype photograph.
Uncredited producer David O. Selznick had a difficult time convincing RKO executives to produce this film. There was a belief in Hollywood at the time that films based on historic novels were not popular, particularly one that centered on women during the Civil War. Selznick persisted, and the film was a commercial success. Because of this, later in the decade, Selznick produced Gone with the Wind (1939), from the novel by Margaret Mitchell, through his own production company, Selznick International Pictures.
Katharine Hepburn wrote in her autobiography, "This picture was heaven to do - George Cukor perfect. He really caught the atmosphere. It was to me my youth!"
Costume designer Walter Plunkett was forced to rapidly redesign Joan Bennett's costumes in order to disguise her advancing pregnancy, something that she had hidden from George Cukor at the time of her casting.