Composer Max Steiner plays the conductor of the Broadway show. (He also can be seen conducting the studio orchestra in the opening titles of RKO's Girl Crazy (1932) the same year.)
In the original script, Achilles (Eugene Pallette) was more specifically referred to as a eunuch, but the MPAA, in a letter to producer David O. Selznick, suggested that word, as well as a few more sexually-suggestive lines, be removed. Thus, there are two attempts at getting that point across: 1) during registration at the hotel, and 2) when Achilles speaks to the maid and she asks if he's a "different" kind of Turk.
Because of Lee Tracy's absences and late arrivals on the set, RKO withheld $3500 from his salary and sued him for $10,000 which they alleged his actions cost them. It was settled out of court with RKO paying half his salary and, if he behaved himself, the other half would be paid as a bonus after he completed his next RKO picture, which turned out to be Wanted! Jane Turner (1936). Tracy requested and was paid the bonus after that film was completed.
The art of exotic near- and middle-eastern dance had been seen during Napoleon's excursion to the area and eventually made its way to Europe and then to the Americas. The 1893 Chicago World's Fair featured a Cairo street scene with many of these dancers, boosting its popularity even more. There were so many such performers that the common name became "Little Egypt", and the music often heard as they danced was called "The Snake Dance Song".
After shooting a gun and pouring red ink on his shirt, Jimmy Bates addresses the crowd outside in Appleton, Pennsylvania. Appleton is is a real town in eastern PA, located about 30 miles south of Harrisburg and 100 miles west of Philadelphia.