The film was released shortly after Will Rogers' death on 15 August 1935 from an airplane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska with noted aviator Wiley Post. Originally, the ending of the film had him waving goodbye to the character played by Irvin S. Cobb, but the ending was changed to avoid the audience thinking he was saying goodbye to them, which may have caused them to leave the theater in tears. Cobb urged the ending not be changed. The review which appeared in Variety 25 September 1935 indicated the film had been "announced" as 102 minutes, but had been considerably shortened, which no doubt accounts for some problems in continuity and the abrupt ending.
Cobb's boat, "Pride of Paducah," was named after his home town of Paducah, Kentucky.
Rogers' boat, "Claremore Queen," was named after his home town of Claremore, Oklahoma.
Rogers bought the rights to the story for $10,000 in 1933. It was Fox's biggest grosser in 1935.
Both Frank Mayo and Jim Thorpe are in studio records/casting call lists as actors in this movie, but neither of them were seen.