This movie marks the first use of "Courthouse Square", the iconic set/location seen in "Back to the Future" and countless other movies and TV shows. The courthouse facade was built for this movie.
Florence Eldridge, who portrays Fredric March's wife, also portrayed his wife twelve years later in 'Inherit the Wind'. The two actors were married in real life.
"Nemo me impune lacessit," the Latin phrase quoted by Judge Wilder during the dinner party, means "No one attacks me unpunished." It is the motto of the Scottish Order of the Thistle, and is also used on certain Scottish and British royal coats of arms.