Trivia

When Leo McCarey received his 1938 Best Director Oscar for The Awful Truth (1937), he reportedly said that he got it for the wrong film, a clear reference to his fondness for this film.

Leo McCarey was making The Milky Way (1936) with Harold Lloyd when he accidentally drank some contaminated milk and became so ill that he nearly died. This brush with mortality--and his own father's recent death--made him want to make the film. In fact, McCarey was so ill that he was unable to attend the funeral of his beloved father.

Orson Welles was quoted as saying that the film "would make a stone cry".

George Bernard Shaw wrote to Leo McCarey, expressing his admiration for the film.

John Ford, Frank Capra and Jean Renoir were big admirers of the film.