For many years this was regarded as a "lost film", with no prints or elements known to exist. A nitrate release print was discovered in the Czech National Archives, in Prague, in then Czechoslovakia. This print was a subtitled, edited version that was in poor condition, and contained numerous splices. Several years later, a print of the uncut British version was finally discovered.
Even though Boris Karloff is given top billing, his actual screen time is less than that of the supporting cast. In addition, he doesn't have any dialogue after his opening scene.
First British horror movie of the sound era.
In the early 1980s, while crews were clearing one of the sound stages at Shepperton Studios in England of old sets and other waste and debris, they found a locked door blocked by stacked lumber. Behind the door was a disused and long-forgotten film vault that had not been used since the mid-'30s. It was cleared, and among the many cans of old film was the original nitrate camera negative of this movie in perfect condition. The British Film Institute had new prints made, and the complete version aired on Channel 4 in the UK in 1984. Bootleg videotapes of this broadcast were shared among collectors for years, but when an official VHS release arrived from MGM/UA Home Video, it proved to be the virtually unwatchable Czech subtitled and heavily cut version. Finally, in 2003, just as the title was being prepared for DVD, MGM/UA obtained the superior material from the British Film Institute for release. This restored copy has substantially raised critical appreciation of the movie in modern times, and has been re-issued in 2008 by Network for a bargain price.
When Boris Karloff traveled to England to shoot this movie, it was the first time in nearly 25 years that he returned to his home country and reunited with the surviving members of his family. Filmed March 13 to late April 1933, it was Karloff's first British feature (his last was La maison ensorcelée (1968)).