Kathy Tongay, the little girl with whom Esther Williams swims in one sequence, died shortly before her sixth birthday just a year after the film was released, after suffering fatal internal injuries after her swimming coach father instructed her to make a dive from a 33-foot-high platform in Florida. (Her older brother Russell 'Bubba' Tongay, also appears in the sequence; the brother/sister team performed as The Aquatots). Following the tragic dive, their father was sentenced to ten years in prison on child-endangerment related charges.
In her autobiography ("Million Dollar Mermaid") Esther Williams asserts that she designed the swimsuits in the film (with the help of Cole of California), after seeing the Navy's swimsuits for women. Esther describes the old ones as "cotton sleeveless T-shirts" that were not at all good for swimming. She spoke to the director of the Navy, who then made the swimsuit the new official swimsuit of the US Navy. She also worked with the writer to add more swimming sequences.
Esther Williams, in her autobiography ("Million Dollar Mermaid"), describes director Sidney Lanfield as a tyrant, who was particularly cruel to Vivian Blaine.
News items and a Hollywood Reporter column noted that Vera-Ellen and Ricardo Montalban had filmed a dance sequence for the picture, but it was cut from the released film.
"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on October 26, 1953 with Esther Williams and Barry Sullivan reprising their film roles.