This movie has Judy Garland performing "Singin' in the Rain" more than 10 years before Gene Kelly most famously sang it in Singin' in the Rain (1952). The song was first heard on screen in The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929).
The photos shown of little Nellie Kelly growing up are photos of Judy Garland as a child.
Adapted from a musical play by George M. Cohan. The original stage production opened at the Liberty Theatre in New York on November 13, 1922 and ran for 248 performances. Most of the story was rewritten for the film, and only two of the songs from the play were used, "Nellie is a Darling" and "Nellie Kelly I Love You".
The film was completed on a budget of $718,000. "Little Nellie Kelly" achieved a total of $2,046,000 in it's first release.
Production ran 8 weeks from July - September 1940. Final retakes were made in late September.