Based on the Lev Tolstoy novel "Anna Karenina", the original movie title was planned to be "Heat"; it was changed so that advertisements could read "Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in LOVE".
Despite the common belief that the happy ending was made for American audiences and the tragic ending was for others, The New York Times review (for the Embassy Theater premiere of the movie in New York on 29 November 1927) reports that the film had the tragic ending. The AFI Catalog reports the tragic ending for the movie in its summary and lists the alternate happy ending in a note.
The sleigh Garbo joins early on during the snowstorm is a traditional Russian troika, named for the fact it is driven by three horses that are harnessed abreast.
The dogs seen in the wolf hunt are the elegant but tenacious borzoi, or Russian wolfhound.
Those involved in the film remembered John Gilbert as having been the primary director on this film. Greta Garbo would refuse to continue filming unless he approved a scene. Only Edmund Goulding is credited as director in the final version.