Production of the film started in October 1938 and had a troubled history. Director Josef von Sternberg quit because of artistic differences. Director Frank Borzage took over, but the production was shelved in early January 1939 for more than 10 months, when W.S. Van Dyke took over and practically re-shot the whole film, with many different cast members. One contemporary reviewer quipped the film should have been called "I Re-Take This Woman".
Because of all the re-takes, Spencer Tracy jokingly referred to the title as "Won't Somebody Take This Woman?"
Jack Carson is credited onscreen but has only one short scene yelling in a subway. His voice is clearly dubbed, probably because he couldn't attend the re-takes.
This film did average business at the box office, but because of all the difficulty in the prolonged production, its cost nearly doubled, resulting in a loss to MGM of $325,000 ($5.9M in 2018) according to studio records.
For the re-takes Adrienne Allen's part was totally re-done with Frances Drake.
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