Producer Darryl F. Zanuck proposed the film to Robert Florey only a couple of hours before the shooting, without letting Florey know if it was a comedy or a drama for the settings preparation.
In 1962, producer-director Robert Aldrich was preparing the prologue to Was geschah wirklich mit Baby Jane? (1962). He chose a scene from Parachute Jumper (1933) and this film to document the fact that the young Jane was a flop as a movie star.
Following this film's release, producer Darryl F. Zanuck left Warner Bros. to form 20th Century Pictures, which would later merge with Fox to become 20th Century-Fox.
Bette Davis blamed the failure of this film on the fact that, on the day of its premiere, Joan Crawford announced her divorce from Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The divorce became front page news for weeks, costing this film much needed publicity. Davis blamed Crawford for this, thus beginning their life-long feud.