One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Its earliest documented telecast took place in Seattle Thursday 13 November 1958 on KIRO (Channel 7), followed by New York City Saturday 31 January 1959 on WCBS (Channel 2). The next two years, it slowly made its way around the country. In Omaha it first aired 10 May 1959 on KETV (Channel 7), in Asheville NC 16 August 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13), in Toledo 15 December 1959 on WTOL (Channel 11), in Detroit 30 December 1959 on WJBK (Channel 2), in Huntington WV 10 February 1960 on WHTN (Channel 13), in Phoenix 28 February 1960 on KVAR (Channel 12), in Miami 16 March 1960 on WTVJ (Channel 4), in Johnstown PA 19 June 1960 on WJAC (Channel 6), in Philadelphia 8 July 1960 on WCAU (Channel 10), in Boston 17 July 1960 on WBZ (Channel 4), and in San Francisco 27 July 1960 on KPIX (Channel 5).
This film was an extension of, and a way of milking, the mock feud between Jack Benny and Fred Allen. Both were top radio stars with their own programs who were engaged in a dispute in which each would make comments about the other, and included guest appearances on each other's show.
According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal (September 8, 1940), dozens of costumes from major Paramount films were brought out of storage for use in the black-cast costume ball sequence. Items included Maurice Chevalier's uniform from The Smiling Lieutenant (1931), Rudolph Valentino's burnoose from The Sheik (1921), a beaded gown worn by Gloria Swanson in Male and Female (1919), Gary Cooper's uniform from Morocco (1930), and costumes that had been worn by Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Bebe Daniels, Mary Miles Minter, Pola Negri, Charles Ray, Adolphe Menjou and others.
Theresa Harris also played Rochester's girlfriend Josephine in "Buck Benny Rides Again".