The film is notable for a scene added to the script at Marlene Dietrich's suggestion. Her character enters the nightclub wearing a tuxedo suit designed for a man and smoking a cigarette, takes a flower from a girl in the audience, kisses her and turns to Gary Cooper's character. The scene was controversial, and Dietrich is said to have defended it against the censors, explaining that if the censors cut the kiss the appearance of the flower in the soldier's hand would make no sense.
Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the 400 movies nominated for the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.
Lux Radio Theatre version, retitled "The Legionnaire and the Lady", starring Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable aired 1 June 1936.