Trivia

The film contains the only on-screen sword fight that expert swordsman Basil Rathbone won in his entire film career.

John Barrymore got actor William Powell the first big break of his career, so it is understandable that when Irving Thalberg and MGM wanted him to replace Barrymore, who was playing Mercutio, Powell declined to do it out of loyalty.

John Barrymore had been drinking heavily during filming, and studio chief Irving Thalberg insisted that he live in Kelley's Rest House for the rest of the shooting and had studio security stand watch over him. Despite these precautions, Barrymore was able to procure drink and was drunk in several scenes including the garden and Queen Mab sequences. At the end of the latter, when the company applauded, the actor responded with, "F... the applause... who's got a drink?"

An autographed copy of the script adaptation, containing the signatures of 27 cast and crew members (including Basil Rathbone, Leslie Howard, and Norma Shearer) was donated to the University of Idaho library by Talbot Jennings in 1939.

This was the last film Irving Thalberg personally produced before his death. The film's Los Angeles premiere took place at the Carthay Circle Theater on September 14, 1936, the night of Thalberg's death. Frank Whitbeck, the radio announcer for the broadcast of the premiere, decided not to interview the stars of the movie on the air. The actors were so grief-stricken that Whitbeck was afraid they would break down crying, so he simply announced their names as they arrived.