Although the title card bears a 1930 copyright statement, this film was apparently never registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, under either of its two titles. It was completed in mid-1930, and reviewed in Motion Picture Herald 4 October 1930, and in Photoplay Magazine in December 1930, but did not open in New York City until April 1931.
During the fight scene in the engine cab, Regis Toomey says "Son of a bitch" and "God damn" to Grant Withers. It is easy to read his lips both times, but the version shown by TCM removes the words "bitch" and "God damn" from the print, so there is a short but noticeable silence during the action. Since this is a pre-Code movie from 1931, it's possible the dialogue was left in the original, but was edited out later.
Die Frau meines Freundes (1930) also features a charming appearance by James Cagney as Jack and Bill's railroad pal Ed Bailey. It was Cagney's third film and featured the actor as a vivacious engineer with a taste for dancing, undoubtedly a reflection of Cagney's initial entry into show business as a hoofer. In the dance-hall scene, it's only a few steps, but his talent is very apparent. Cagney would later do another bit of dancing when he meets Jean Harlow in his breakout role in director William A. Wellman's Der öffentliche Feind (1931). The film was so unmemorable for Cagney that he even fails to mention it in his autobiography, Cagney By Cagney, skipping from a discussion of The Doorway to Hell (1930) to The Public Enemy.
This film was first released as "The Steel Highway" and even reviewed under that title. However, it opened in New York City, New York as Die Frau meines Freundes (1930) in April 1931.
James Cagney and Joan Blondell had appeared on stage together in the play "Penny Arcade" and reprised their roles for their first onscreen pairing in the film version of that play known as Sinners' Holiday (1930). After making that film, both Cagney and Blondell went on to sign long-term Warners contracts. The two consummate fast-talking, streetwise actors would go on to appear in a total of seven pictures together including the aforementioned Der öffentliche Feind (1931) in which Cagney first established his iconic tough-guy gangster image.