This was John Barrymore's last film for Warner Bros. According to modern sources, art director Anton Grot created a look similar to that of German Expressionist films. He used muslin ceilings on the sets, in contrast to the more usual practice of open ceilings to allow for easier lighting. Muslin ceilings were so uncommon that cinematographer Gregg Toland was applauded for their use in the 1941 film Citizen Kane. ten years later.
At the beginning when Vladimir talks about creating a dancer from the runaway boy, he mentions the Frankenstein creation. The boy's father is played by Boris Karloff who went on to star in the Frankenstein film.
Although this title was among more than 700 Warner Bros. productions sold to Associated Artists in 1956 for re-release and/or television broadcast, this one, along with Moby Dick (1930) and Svengali (1931) remained in litigation until April 1959 because of their involvement with the estate of the late John Barrymore who had a financial interest in them when they were originally produced; as a result, this film's earliest documented telecast took place in San Diego 19 August 1959 on KFMB (Channel 8), after which time, it was only rarely taken off the shelf; it was also aired Wednesday 7 February 1962 on CBET (Channel 9) which served the Windsor, Ontario/Detroit, Michigan area, for example. In more recent years, it's been in the Turner Network Television Library and enjoys occasional presentations on Turner Classic Movies.