Buster Keaton wanted this film to be a full talkie, but MGM released it with only a musical score and sound effects. One thing that prevented this picture from being a full talkie was that MGM was late to the sound game and had only one full set of recording equipment at the time. Its Loew's Theater chain also was not yet fully equipped to show sound pictures. Plus, MGM's head of production reasoned Keaton's films were made with a lot of time-consuming improvisations and didn't think the added expense of using valuable, scarce sound equipment was worth it.
Buster Keaton's final silent feature, his second film under contract at MGM, as well as the final film in which the studio allowed him any creative control.
The names of the three actor-characters are references to the Barrymore family: "Lionel Benmore" for Lionel Barrymore and "Ethyl Norcrosse" for his sister, Ethel Barrymore, with the last name of "Trilby Drew" being a reference to Georgiana Drew Barrymore, the mother of Lionel, Ethyl and John Barrymore, and the future namesake of John's granddaughter, Drew Barrymore.
The scene in which Buster Keaton puts his inebriated bride to bed was later performed on stage by Keaton and his third wife Eleanor Keaton. It is also re-enacted in L'homme qui n'a jamais ri (1957).