"Diamond Lil", the play on which this was based, originally opened Apr. 9, 1928 at the Royale Theatre and ran for 176 performances. It was revived 3 times between 1949 and 1951, each time starring Mae West.
Mae West and Rafaela Ottiano repeat their original stage roles from the play "Diamond Lil", although, in the film, Lil's name is changed to Lou.
Mae West was sewn into most of her costumes.
Mae West was signed by Paramount in 1931 to make a film adaptation of her stage success 'Diamond Lil'. They then spent the next two years trying to figure out a way of getting the material past the censors. The battle over 'Diamond Lil' led to the head of the Production Board, James Wingate, quitting and being replaced by the much more hardline Joseph Breen who was prompted to set up a fairly stringent and moral Production Code. In the meantime, 'Diamond Lil' transformed into the slightly watered down "She Done Him Wrong" and was one of the last films to be made before the introduction of the Production Code.
At 66 minutes, this is the shortest movie to ever receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.
Shot in approximately three weeks.
The movie's line "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" was voted as the #26 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
The National Legion of Decency was formed in October of 1933, six months after the release of this film. Legion officials cited Mae West and the film as one of the major reasons for the "necessity" of the organization.
The only Mae West film to receive an Academy Award nomination.
The shortest film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.