Mary Astor fondly remembered working on "Listen, Darling" with the 16-year-old Judy Garland. "She was so young and vital - it was no act. Something would strike her as funny, and her face would get red, and 'There goes Judy!' would be the cry. And we just had to wait until she got over it. She was a kid, a real kid. It didn't take long for her to get over that."
This would be the first of two occasions in which Mary Astor would play Judy Garland's mother. The second being Meet Me in St. Louis (1944).
Judy Garland sings a slow version of the song she originally sang for her MGM audition, "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart." For "Listen, Darling" the song was also prerecorded with a hot second chorus, but that version was shelved in favor of a gentler approach in the final cut.
Freddie Bartholomew and Judy Garland received star billing above then Hollywood veterans Mary Astor and Walter Pidgeon.
The production on "Listen, Darling" ran from June 1938 to October 1938. During this time Judy Garland was already involved in early stage costume and make-up testing for The Wizard of Oz (1939).