Based on a popular radio game show of the same name, in which contestants were asked to perform various stunts. It was hosted by Art Baker (I) and Art Linkletter. It spawned a TV show, "People Are Funny" (1954), hosted by Linkletter.
The actual "People Are Funny" radio program was extremely popular; it ran from 1942-60.
Though the film premise is fictionalized, one of the producers vying for the show is named John Guedel (played by Phillip Reed (i)). There really was a John Guedel; he was the original creator and executive producer of the radio program, "People Are Funny."
The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.
Jack Haley (Pinky) and Clara Blandick (Pinky's grandma) costarred in only one other film: as Hickory and Auntie Em in a minor project called The Wizard of Oz (1939).