The film includes an appearance of Elmer McCurdy, an Oklahoma would-be bank robber who was killed in 1911, and whose embalmed body circulated through various sideshows, fun houses and amusement parks for over 60 years. McCurdy's body was not only used as that of a "drug addict" in the film but was put on display by Dwain Esper at screenings of the movie. McCurdy was eventually discovered in a Long Beach (CA) funhouse in 1977 by a film crew for the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and he was returned to Oklahoma for proper burial.
The suicide note seen at the beginning of the film is addressed to "Dwain," apparently the film's producer and director, Dwain Esper. The note is in Esper's handwriting, and it may be his hand bringing it toward the camera.
Writer Hildegarde Stadie based the script on true events. She had gone on tour with a great-uncle as a little girl when he worked the medicine show circuit selling the elixir Tiger Fat. The film is actually considered to be a very accurate and unexaggerated retelling of his life.
An item published in Variety on June 13, 1933, stated that this film had just started shooting after an eight month pre-production period.