This film was originally the pilot episode for a new television series entitled Royal Bay. When it was not picked up, it was re-edited into a stand-alone film and renamed Della. The hallmarks of its televisual beginnings are still visible in the billing of Joan Crawford as a "special guest star."
After it failed to be picked up as a series, the film received a limited theatrical release in the United States. It quickly vanished, before resurfacing on VHS years later, and occasionally being aired on television, the medium it was originally intended for.
The first of two consecutive films - the second being Strait-Jacket (1964) - in which Joan Crawford and Diane Baker play mother and daughter. Both projects were filmed only months apart.
Last screen appearance of Otto Kruger.
Joan Crawford and Otto Kruger had appeared in Chained together 30 years before.