Spencer Tracy's erratic behavior on this film helped seal his fate with 20th Century-Fox. During filming Tracy disappeared from the set for weeks while on a drunken binge. He reportedly also showed up to the set one day surly and hung over and fell asleep in the "Manhattan apartment" set. The studio locked the stage while he was still asleep; Tracy woke up in a rage and started destroying sets, reportedly causing thousands of dollars worth of damage for which the studio billed him.
After viewing this movie, Spencer Tracy called it "one of the worst pictures ever made anywhere, anytime." He had his name removed from the opening credits and insisted that his name not appear in any of the publicity for the film.
Remarkably, outtakes still survive from this film. Raw footage of the clapperboard and the setup for a dance number with 16-year-old Rita Hayworth are included in the documentary Rita (2003).
According to a 28 July 1935 "New York Times" article, there were 4,950 technicians, architects, artists, carpenters, stone masons and laborers, 250 electricians and 3,000 extras in the Inferno scene. A total of 300,000 feet of film was shot, which was whittled down to a manageable 8000 feet by editor Alfred DeGaetano. A total of 14,000 people worked on the film.
No words are spoken during the Hell sequence.