Anecdotes

A number of beggars in downtown Los Angeles were cast in small roles, including the legless man, nicknamed William F. Sauls, whom Frank Capra had remembered as selling pencils when the director was a paperboy.

When Frank Capra was nominated for his first Best Director Oscar in 1934 for his work on this movie, presenter Will Rogers merely opened the envelope and said, "Come and get it, Frank!". Already halfway to the stage, Capra realized that Rogers wasn't referring to him, but to Frank Lloyd, who was getting the award for Cavalcade (1933).

Frank Capra would later remake this as Milliardaire pour un jour (1961), his final film.

Radio City Music Hall booked the film's premiere without seeing it, because Frank Capra's La grande muraille (1932) had been the theater's first film; and they considered the director to be good luck.

Frank Capra's choice to play Apple Annie was MGM's big box office draw, Marie Dressler, but studio boss Harry Cohn rejected the request and cast May Robson instead. Ironically Robson, who had just played a supporting role to Dressler in Les invités de huit heures (1933), received an Oscar nomination for this film.