Of the original 20 individual sequences, seven of them were filmed in 2-strip Technicolor: the opening sequence: 'Showgirls on Parade', Nino Martini's 'Come Back to Sorrento,' Harry Green's 'Isadore the Toreador' with Kay Francis, Dennis King's 'Nitchavo,' 'Girl of My Dreams', with Richard Arlen, Jean Arthur, Mary Brian, Virginia Bruce, Gary Cooper, James Hall, Phillips Holmes, David Newell, Joan Peers, and Fay Wray, of which only the B&W introduction survives, and the 'Rainbow Revels' finale featuring Maurice Chevalier singing 'Sweeping the Clouds Away', which also survives in B&W. The total Technicolor footage was 2517 feet (768 m), or about 28 minutes.
The Marx Brothers filmed a scene originating from their 1924 Broadway hit "I'll Say She Is", which was later deleted before release but was later placed in the promotional film The House That Shadows Built (1931).
One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. The television version only ran 77 minutes and contained no Technicolor footage; its earliest documented telecast took place in Charlotte NC Saturday 30 January 1960 on WSOC (Channel 9).
Marlene Dietrich was originally announced to host the German language version of this film, but that never materialized. She allegedly filmed a sequence with her trademark tuxedo and top hat directed by Josef von Sternberg but whereabouts of this footage remain unknown.
Paramount On Parade did mediocre business at the box office, after it was released to the general public on April 19, 1930. Only the Clara Bow segment, titled "The Redhead," and the Maurice Chevalier segment were popular with movie audiences.