Steve McQueen was once considered for playing Dave the Dude.
Ann-Margret's first film
A variation of "Polly Wolly Doodle" is sung by Bette Davis' (Apple Annie) crew towards the end of the film as they are riding in a cab to see Ann-Margret off on her honeymoon. The same song is played on the harmonica by Lionel Barrymore (and Edward Arnold) in You Can't Take It with You.
According to the Bette Davis biography, 'Fasten Your Seatbelts', the actress was furious when she read a Glenn Ford interview in which the actor claimed to have gotten her the part because of the boost she had given him years before in A Stolen Life. Davis is quoted as saying, "Who is that son of a bitch that he should say he helped me have a comeback! That shitheel wouldn't have helped me out of a sewer!"
At one point, Apple Annie waves across the street to an unseen acquaintance called "Tallulah" who is opening in a play - an in-joke reference to Bette Davis' long-running feud with Tallulah Bankhead.
Average Shot Length (ASL) = 13 seconds
Before Bette Davis accepted the role, Shirley Booth was Capra's first choice for Apple Annie. Booth viewed the original version of the film, Lady for a Day, and informed director
Frank Capra that there was no way she could match the Oscar-nominated performance of May Robson in the original film, and politely declined the role.
Director Frank Capra wanted Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra to play Dave, and Shirley Jones for Queenie. After Glenn Ford was cast as Dave and helped finance the film through his production company, he asked for his girlfriend Hope Lange as Queenie.
Final film of Frank Capra.
Final film of Thomas Mitchell.
Final film of 'Snub' Pollard.
For the Spanish version of the film, the Count and his son are Italians.
The role of Apple Annie was offered to Helen Hayes who accepted it but finally couldn't do it when shooting was postponed, and she had a commitment to a State Department tour.
This film contains perhaps the earliest Hollywood use of "godfather" as a synonym for mob boss. Some experts cite mob informer Joe Valachi as the originator of the term in the popular vernacular, but this film predates his 1963 congressional testimony by a couple of years.