The Cavendish family is based on the Barrymore family, who in the 1920's were considered America's greatest family of actors. Ethel Barrymore saw the play "The Royal Family" (on which this movie is based) on Broadway, and was highly-critical of how her family was portrayed. However, after John Barrymore saw the play in Los Angeles, he went backstage and congratulated Fredric March on his portrayal of the eccentric, hard-drinking actor Tony Cavendish, a character based on Barrymore himself.
Speaking to film students at the University of Southern California in 1976, George Cukor, whom Hollywood brought from Broadway to co-direct "The Royal Family of Broadway," recalled his excitement at discovering the difference between stage and screen direction and the limitless opportunities the cinema presented when he saw how the camera could leave the apartment living room and travel up a staircase into the apartment's other rooms.
Based on the Broadway play "The Royal Family" by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, which opened at the Selwyn Theater on December 28, 1927, and ran for 345 performances.
Fredric March had previously played the role of Tony Cavendish in the West Coast stage production of "The Royal Family."
While Ina Claire and Henrietta Crosman are riding down Broadway in a taxi, they pass a movie marquee advertising co-star Fredric March's previous film, Laughter (1930).