This is the third and final pairing of Leslie Howard and Bette Davis (after Of Human Bondage (1934), and The Petrified Forest (1936)), and their only comedy together.
This film has an unusually high number of connections to Gone with the Wind (1939). It is the first time Howard and de Havilland acted together before playing Ashley and Melanie; Davis had been considered for the role of Scarlett; and de Havilland mentions Clark Gable near the end.
The script was originally written to star Ina Claire or Gertrude Lawrence in the Joyce Arden role. But neither was a big enough box-office draw, so the part went to Davis.
One concession producer Hal B. Wallis made to get Bette Davis to take the role after production had already begun, was to replace James Van Trees with Tony Gaudio, one of only a few cinematographers Davis trusted to photograph her. However, only Van Trees would receive credit.
The first of 4 films Davis and DeHavilland appeared in together, the others being, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), In This Our Life (1942), and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).