In December 1932, Hollywood Reporter announced that Clark Gable had won the role of "Giovanni" from Douglas Fairbanks Jr. According to modern sources, Gable wore a mustache for the first time in this picture.
This film did very well at the box office for MGM, especially outside of the US and Canada, resulting in a profit of $456,000 ($8.64M in 2017) according to studio records.
La soeur blanche (1933) cast Clark Gable woefully against type as a romantic Italian soldier in a screen version of Francis Marion Crawford's popular novel. The 1933 romance, pitting Gable against God for the affections of nun Helen Hayes. Gable grew more and more rebellious when faced with other roles he considered wrong for him. Eventually, his behavior would lead studio head Louis B. Mayer to "punish" him by shipping him to a lesser studio for a minor comedy -New York - Miami (1934) -that made him a superstar.
Sidney Toler is seen in the movie as the caretaker of the estate. He speaks to Giovanni (Clark Gable) who is searching for Angela (Helen Hayes) after the death of her father (Lewis Stone). Toler is only seen from the neck up, through a gate.
Humorist/screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart asked to play a small role in the film, the uncredited "Rear End of a Horse," though he would later say the casting was strangely prophetic. His face is briefly glimpsed when he falls out of the horse costume on the ground.