This was one of the first films to benefit from the post-war euphoria that gripped America in 1945. Despite being released in August (rather than a more logical holiday-time release) this grossed a then impressive $3 million, making it one of the year's most successful movies.
The character of Elizabeth Lane was loosely based on the then popular Family Circle Magazine columnist Gladys Taber, who lived on Stillmeadow Farm in Connecticut.
Bette Davis was originally cast as Elizabeth early in 1944, but Barbara Stanwyck replaced her in April of that same year.
Just before this film, Barbara Stanwyck had starred in Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944), in which she played a seductress who lures a man into helping murder her husband. The clothes for that film were created by Paramount's resident designer Edith Head, and Stanwyck was so impressed with how attractive Head's outfits made her look in that film that she insisted Warners hire Head to design her gowns for this film as well.