Gracie Allen's "Concerto for an Index Finger" began as a publicity stunt in March 1943 which ran throughout the month on both the Burns & Allen and Jack Benny radio shows and led to live performances at Carnegie Hall and The Hollywood Bowl.
June Allyson's future husband Dick Powell suggested that the actress switch roles with co-star Gloria DeHaven and play the plain sister while DeHaven play the glamorous one. DeHaven remarked in 1989, "Maybe she knows something I don't; but that doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense. I wish they had reversed it - hers was the better role."
In this pre-stardom film, Ava Gardner appears uncredited in two small roles. She has a brief speaking part as one of the costumed showgirls that dances with Private Adams (Frank Sully) at the canteen. She later appears in the dream sequence as one of the fashion models, fifth in line with the feather boa.
Gracie Allen loathed the hurry-up-and-wait tedium of making movies, but husband George Burns always talked her into it, claiming it was good for both their act and their bank account. By this point in their career the couple no longer needed publicity or money, so once filming was completed, Allen insisted this was to be her final movie - which it was.