Among the many women whose photos adorn Franz Roberti's apartment is a very blonde Lucille Ball, who was an RKO Radio contract player at the time this film was made.
After completing one scene in the role of Franz Roberti, Francis Lederer refused to shoot a particular set-up, complaining it showed his "bad" side. Katharine Hepburn and assistant director Edward Killy complained to studio head J.P. MacDonald, who fired Lederer and replaced him with Charles Boyer.
Though neither Katharine Hepburn nor Charles Boyer liked the script, they got along well with each other, remained friends, and often talked about making another movie together. They appeared in The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969).
The character of Franz Roberti was based on two real-life conductors of the period: Leopold Stokowski, who was well known for his rearrangements of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner, and other composers; and Arturo Toscanini, who was notorious for insulting his musicians during rehearsals the way Roberti does in the film.
This film barely broke even at the box office, earning RKO the small profit of $16,000 ($350,000 in 2023) according to studio records.