Edmund Goulding was originally slated to direct and Anita Louise was originally cast in the Margaret Lindsay role.
Franco Corsaro, Roger Valmy, George Sorel, Vic Demourelle and Louis LaBey are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in this movie.
Bette Davis allegedly took 45 takes to perfect the scene where she lifts her riding skirt with her crop.
Bette Davis credited William Wyler for making her a box office-star after he directed her Oscar-winning performance in Jezebel (1938).
Bette Davis reprised the role of Julie in two 30-minute adaptations of Jezebel on radio: "Academy Award Theater" on March 30, 1946 and "Screen Director's Playhouse" on August 12, 1949.
Bette Davis' Oscar was sold at auction on July 19, 2001 at Christie's for $57,800. The buyer was Steven Spielberg who then immediately donated it back to the Academy.
Jeffrey Lynn originally was cast in the Pres role, but the producers of the play he was appearing in refused to release him. Fonda was a last minute replacement.
Owen Davis's play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 19 December 1933 and closed in January 1934 after 32 performances. The opening night cast included Miriam Hopkins as Julie, Joseph Cotten, Owen Davis Jr. (the writer's son), Cora Witherspoon and Lew Payton (who is also in the film).
A song, "Jezebel" with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer was published to promote the movie but not used on the soundtrack.
According to Robert Osborne, Julie's red dress was actually bronze colored, because bronze showed up better on black and white film than red would.
An old rumor is that the role of Julie was offered as compensation to Bette Davis when she lost the opportunity to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. This rumor is completely false, since the role of Scarlett had not yet been cast until long after Jezebel had been filmed.
At the time of filming director William Wyler and lead actor Henry Fonda were both ex-husbands of actress Margaret Sullavan.
Because of excessive takes for each scene by director William Wyler, Jezebel allegedly ran 28 days behind schedule.
Because the original Broadway production was a flop, Warner Bros. was able to buy the rights to the film at a very low price.
Director William Wyler was known for working with the script of the films he was directing, but was unable to do so here to the degree he wanted because shooting started on the first part of the script before the rest was finished. Because he was too busy to contribute to the writing, Wyler asked that John Huston be brought in to act as the middleman between him and the writers, and the studio agreed.
Has been called a black-and-white version of Gone with the Wind, which was in its pre-production stages at the time.
In order to minimize the impact of potentially going over budget (as this film did), director William Wyler shot all of the most expensive scenes first.
Originally a flop play on Broadway starring Bette Davis' nemesis Miriam Hopkins. Hopkins assumed she was contractually set to star in the film adaptation, but the contract only specified she would be "considered" for the film version.
Some scenes were filmed around Henry Fonda, to allow him to be with his wife as she gave birth to their daughter Jane Fonda, including scenes with the sometimes-prickly star, Bette Davis. As the star of the film Davis was within her rights to insist that Fonda remain until their scenes were finished, but she allowed him to complete his shots and leave.