Because of the Hays Code, screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz changed the setting from a Paris brothel to a nightclub in New Orleans, and changed the main character from a prostitute to a more ambiguous nightclub singer and hostess, in adapting the 1939 novel of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham.
Top-billed Gene Kelly doesn't make his first appearance until 26 minutes into the picture.
"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on
September 17, 1945, with Loretta Young as Jackie/Abigail, William Holden as Lt. Mason, and David Bruce as Robert Manette.
Deanna Durbin had fights with director Robert Siodmak over her interpretation of her character.
Deanna Durbin considered "Christmas Holiday" a film of which she was proud.