When the Motion Picture Herald reviewer doubted the authenticity of the animal fight sequences, Terry Ramsaye, editor of Motion Picture Herald, defended the film's authenticity, claiming that the animal action was all shot "in a compound adjacent to the city of Singapore, in the Straits Settlements." Ramsaye added, "The scenes staged and recorded in the compound may be accepted as dramatically reasonable reconstructions of what actually happens in the open jungle."
In his autobiography, "All in a Lifetime", Frank Buck reported that he got the idea of making this film after he saw Gras (1925) and Chang (1927), two documentaries by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper.
A notice at the beginning of the film, which is sub-titled the "Official and Authentic Motion Picture Record of the RKO Van Beuren Malayan Jungle Expedition," states that "every foot of this picture was actually photographed in the Malayan jungle country."
The film appears to have been shot "silent", with a soundtrack added in post-production. During the New York run, Frank Buck appeared before the screenings and told "jungle" tales to the enormous sellout crowds, according to Variety.
Edward Anthony is listed as an uncredited cast member in studio records, but he was not seen or referenced (except as a collaborator of the source book) in the print viewed on the Turner Classic Movies channel. The print shown was a re-release, which may account for his omission.