The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America admonished: "There is cleavage in Reel 1. There is cleavage in Reel 4. There is gross cleavage in Reel 8", adding that it was the last film it would pass containing "scenes of offensive cleavage".
Percy Blakeney refers to one of the boxers as "Mendoza", a reference to Daniel Mendoza, the 18th-century British Jew who revolutionized boxing. Mendoza was the heavyweight champion of England (1792-95), despite being a middleweight.
When Sir Percy recites his poem, it contains the word "demmed" which, in the US in 1934, would have been construed as profanity and would not have been allowed. This film was produced in England, however, where it was.
"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on 12/12/1938, with Leslie Howard reprising his film role. Olivia de Havilland performed with him after having just filmed "Gone with the Wind (1939)" together.
The direction of the film was credited solely to the American editor Harold Young, whose subsequent films as director were minor B-movies which are little remembered today. The story that the original director, Rowland Brown, was fired on the first day of shooting is probably untrue, although he did have major disagreements with producer Alexander Korda which did lead to his being dismissed quite early. It seems more than likely that Korda directed most of the film himself, and he certainly kept a very close eye on things throughout filming.
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