Fritz Lang originally wanted a black woman to play the role of Emily Gaunt but the producers refused.
Kathleen Freeman, in her ninth movie appearance, earned her very first acting motion picture credit with this film. She would remain active having nearly 300 appearances in film and television for the next 51 years until her death.
Usually seen in bit parts, Jody Gilbert has a major supporting role as Flora Bantam the servant girl.
This is a loose adaptation of an uncharacteristic novel by the English humorist A.P. (later Sir Alan) Herbert, first published in 1921. The film moves the setting from London (the river of the title is the Thames in the novel) to a rural American setting. and from the early 1920s to the late 19th century.