Irene Dunne reads a telegram from her Anglophobe father to a group of English people. Her father begs her not to marry an Englishman she is in love with and tells her "You're a Yankee through and through! Think of Paul Revere! Think of the Old North steeple! Remember the Alabama!" The viewer may become confused at this point. "Remember the Alabama"? Shouldn't it be "Remember the Alamo"? However, since the context of the telegram is anti-British any mention of the Alamo would be irrelevant. What Irene Dunne's father is apparently taking about is the C.S.S. Alabama, one of several Confederate warships that were built in British shipyards over United States protest during the Civil War. These ships attacked U.S. shipping in the Atlantic Ocean. Since Irene Dunne arrives in England in April of 1914 and married just before August 4, 1914 when Great Britain declared war on Germany, the telegram was probably sent close to the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Alabama by the U.S.S. Kearsarge on June 19, 1864 in the English Channel. The United States sued Great Britain in 1869 over the building of the Confederate warships and was awarded $15.5 million.
Ronald Colman owned the rights to Alice Duer Miller's poem, but sold them to Clarence Brown, who in turn sold them and his services as director to MGM.
Irene Dunne made this movie while filming was held up for Dois no Céu (1943) due to Van Johnson's automobile accident. She even helped Johnson land a small role in this movie.
Bunny Gordon, who at the age of six months, portrays the same character as does Peter Lawford, age 20, only as a baby. When, 22 years later, she appeared opposite Lawford in Barbara Eden vs. Peter Lawford - Day 2 (1966) from the TV game show Password (1961) on October 24, 1966, she surprised Lawford and the audience by revealing this connection before game play began.
The Ashwood family estate is said to be located in Devon. The Armada referenced was the Spanish Armada, which sailed past Cornwall and entered Plymouth Harbor, Devon, where Sir Francis Drake was allegedly playing a game of bowls on Plymouth Hoe. The Isle of Avalon mentioned is now known as Glastonbury, in neighboring Somerset. Arthur was supposedly born in Tintagel, Cornwall. The region was Royalist territory (as opposed to Parlimentarian) during the First English Civil War, so Cromwell's armies would have indeed been in the area.