In this movie, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are named respectively "Stanlio" and "Ollio". These are the names by which they are still known in Italy.
In a 1957 radio interview, Stan Laurel said he considered this to be one of the best of the comedy team's movies.
This was one of the last movies to have exit music. In 1929 and 1930 many movies had exit music but the practice had been mostly abandoned by 1933 (some movies produced by Fox Films continued to have exit music through 1934).
"Fra Diavolo" represented a dream project for Hal Roach, who had seen the play as a boy. The fact that the play's rights were in public domain was an added incentive to the producer.
This was 'Stan Laurel' and 'Oliver Hardy''s first comic-opera film. The movie's success led to another L&H operetta film, The Bohemian Girl (1936).