In their History of Cinema, Maurice Bardeche and Robert Brasillach call this " one of the few films made based on a new idea, since the invention of talkies."
When he was in Hollywood just before returning to France to make this film, Feyder had wanted to direct the production of Pirandello's As You Desire Me, a vehicle for Greta Garbo where she would play a dual role.Feyder had suggested having Garbo's voice dubbed by a different address for her second character.An idea that was not used when the film was made by George Fitzmaurice.But which Feyder took with him along with some influence of Pirandello when he started to work on Le Grand Jeu.
In French the title has at least two meanings: the "Great Game" and "The Full Deck," a technical term employed by card players, which the Francoise Rosay character uses when she is telling Pierre Richard Wilm his fortune.