This is the first movie to show the credit "Written and Directed by...." followed by just one name: Preston Sturges.
On August 19, 1939, Paramount issued a check to contract writer Preston Sturges to buy the story and screenplay of this movie, in the amount of $10. Sturges promised to sell the script for that amount if he could direct. The studio took him up on it and the film was a hit and won an Academy Award for the screenplay, probably making it the cheapest Oscar-winning script in history.
Preston Sturges got the idea for this film from a Chicago area judge who shared stories with him about city elections.
This film was inspired, according to Kevin Brownlow, in part by the career of early 20th century politician and lawyer William Sulzer. The film was released a year before Sulzer's death at the age of 78.
Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff reprised their roles as Governor McGinty and The Boss in Preston Sturges's Papai por Acaso (1943). In the film, McGinty and The Boss provide a retroactive marriage license for Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken.