The movie initially was called "Born to Be Bad" with Lew Ayres again starring as Dr. Kildare. After principal shooting had been completed, Ayres announced he was a conscientious objector to World War II in which America was then involved, and was confined to an internment camp. Fearing adverse publicity, MGM scrapped his footage, replaced him with Philip Dorn and changed the title.
Ninth entry in MGM's long-running "Dr. Kildare" franchise, and the first of them not to feature Kildare or Lew Ayres playing the part. The series would continue for several more films, each centered on Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Leonard Gillespie, but it would never regain the popularity it had previously enjoyed.
Eight days before filming began, Donna Reed had turned 21 years old. Ruth Tobey, who played Reed's character's roommate at school, only became a teenager several weeks after the film had premiered.
Among the uncredited extras playing girls' school graduates in this film"s final scene are Leatrice Joy (daughter of silent movie idol John Gilbert) and an extremely young Ava Gardner in one of her first speaking roles.
Philip Dorn, who essentially takes the place of Lew Ayres as Dr. Gillespie's protege here, had been a matinee idol of sorts in his homeland of Holland before fleeing the Nazis and finding moderate success in Hollywood. He is best remembered for playing "Papa Lars" in I Remember Mama (1948). In his later years, Dorn suffered with debilitating phlebitis, and died at the Motion Picture Country Home in 1975.