Universal studios exaggerated the amount of location filming that was done for the film. Nearly all of the film was shot at Universal Studios.
Lupita Tovar's first English language role. She had famously made a name for herself in Drácula (1931) and other Spanish-language versions of Universal Studio's films.
Despite the film's Southeast Asian setting, some publicity materials depict lead actors interacting with stereotypical African-looking natives.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a 1931 film, this Southeast Asia-set film has no lead actors of Asian descent: Georges Renavent was French, Lupita Tovar was Mexican, and Noble Johnson was African American.
The third collaboration between director George Melford and actress Lupita Tovar. Melford previously served as director on La voluntad del muerto (1930) and Drácula (1931); East of Borneo was the first and only English-language project on which they worked together, and the only film that was not a derivative Spanish-language remake of an English-language Universal production.