During filming, an electrician fell from the catwalk high above the set, narrowly missing the film's star, Joan Crawford. Shooting was temporarily halted while the man was rushed to hospital. Crawford refused to resume production until she was assured that the man would be fully cared for, that he would remain on salary, and that his family would be provided for. Crawford also called the hospital each day afterwards for reports on his condition.
This was the film that got Joan Crawford labeled "box office poison" and out of the top 10 money making stars.
The last of seven films pairing Joan Crawford and Franchot Tone, who were married at this time.
Probably the real "star" of the film, and the source of its title, was the red beaded gown by Adrian, worn by Joan Crawford in the climactic ball scene. The dress was reused in fashion show sequences in Tienda de locuras (1941), finally in color, in La Dubarry era una dama (1943) and in publicity stills for La leyenda de Lylah Clare (1968) with the films star Kim Novak as the model.
Originally, in 1937, Dorothy Arzner had been assigned by MGM producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1937 to direct Luise Rainer in "The Girl from Trieste," an unperformed Ferenc Molnár play about a prostitute trying to reform herself who discovers the hypocrisies of the respectable class which she aspires to. After the death of Irving Thalberg, Louis B. Mayer was put in charge of MGM. Mayer disliked the perceived exploitation of the female lead's character, and insisted that Molnár's play be rewritten so that it was no longer about a prostitute, but instead a slightly dark Cinderella story with a happy ending. Retitled by Mankiewicz as The Bride Wore Red (1937), Rainer withdrew and was replaced by Joan Crawford.