For the famous closing shot of Greta Garbo at the prow of the ship, director Rouben Mamoulian had wanted the camera to begin with a long shot, and then, in one unbroken take, gradually dolly in on a two-thirds closeup of Garbo's face, holding on her at the end of the shot. Unfortunately, with the camera's 48mm lens that close to the human face, pores tend to resemble craters on the surface of the moon. Borrowing on aspects of the magic lantern, Mamoulian devised a large, ruler-shaped, glass filter strip that was clear at one end, becoming increasingly more diffused along its length. With this glass filter mounted in front of the lens, as the camera moved in on Garbo, the glass strip was gradually drawn through the filter holder, beginning with the clear end, and ending with the diffused end (closeup), softening Garbo's facial features with more flattering results.
Greta Garbo initially requested that Laurence Olivier play the male lead, Don Antonio, since she was impressed by his performance in Westward Passage (1932). In July 1933, the press announced that Olivier would take the part. However, when they did rehearsals in August, Garbo and Olivier had no chemistry. Garbo found herself unable to relax with him; in fact, every time he touched her, she froze. Olivier was released, although MGM Studios honored his negotiated salary of $1,500 a week for four weeks minimum. When they brought in John Gilbert, the results were magical. Even though his career was failing, Garbo requested that he be cast in the role instead. It was only due to Garbo's star power that Louis B. Mayer would hire him as he hated Gilbert.
The jeweled gown that Christina wears when she formally receives Antonio at court has survived. The exhibit "Hollywood Costume" curated by Deborah Nadoolman, which was installed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2012 and later the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2014, featured the gown.
Since John Gilbert was falling out of favor with the majors as a leading man, Greta Garbo was doing him a big favor by requesting him as the male lead. Unfortunately, the film did not help to re-establish Gilbert, and soon after he dropped out of pictures altogether. In addition, the studio publicity department virtually ignored Gilbert's performance. In some previews for the film, he wasn't even mentioned.
The scene at the inn where Christina goes around memorizing the room, was choreographed so meticulously that Greta Garbo performed the scene to a metronome.