Ginger Rogers recommended Jimmy Stewart for this film, even though they had not worked on a film together previously. The two were dating at the time, and with Rogers being one of RKO's biggest stars, she got her way.
Since Ginger Rogers' legs were insured for $500,000, they were strapped with boards and padded for protection during the fight scene. Filming on La vita di Vernon e Irene Castle (1939) started soon after this movie wrapped, and RKO could not afford to have an injured musical star.
Two years after this film was released, Rogers & Stewart both received best acting Oscars. RKO re-released Vivacious lady in the wake of their increased world-wide fame, and it earned nearly triple what it had earned on its initial release.
This film is one of five times that Beulah Bondi portrayed James Stewart's mother. The others are: La vita è meravigliosa (1946), Mr. Smith va a Washington (1939), Cuori umani (1938) and once on his television series, Jimmy Stewart (1971).
In the film, the classroom assistant to James Stewart is referred to as Mr. Culpepper from Texas. Ginger Rogers' first husband was Edward Jackson Culpepper, known as 'Jack Pepper', from Texas.