Elektro was constructed in by the Westinghouse Electric's Appliance Division of Mansfield, Ohio, and only one copy was made. Construction began in 1937, completed in 1938, and it was put on public display in early 1939 just before being sent to the New York World's Fair of 1939. It was also on display at the Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California from 1958 until 1967. For awhile after, the fate of the robot was unknown. Eventually multiple sections were discovered in different locations and it was restored. It was modified for this film, filling in the circle and putting in the square on his chest for the speaker. The Mansfield Memorial Museum has the original Elektro. As originally constructed, he was seven feet tall and weighed 265 pounds.
Mamie Van Doren and Tuesday Weld became fast friends during this picture, and could often be seen tooling around Los Angeles on Van Doren's Vespa scooter.
Conway Twitty was extremely embarrassed by his appearance in this film. When he appeared on Sunday Night (1988), host David Sanborn began to bring the film up, but was immediately shut down by Twitty, who said, "Let's not talk about that".
The film was also released in its European print with an additional nine-minute dream sequence showcasing the robot Thinko with four topless striptease dancers. This version has been shown on Turner Classic Movies.
The song played under opening credits is "Sexpot Goes To College", the working title for the movie until a last-minute title change.