According to Rudi Blesch's biography of Buster Keaton, he came on the set the first day of shooting and, unaware of his reduced status as actor-only, began to "feel" for comedy bits and request props and characters, as he had with his own company. Director Edward Sedgwick took him aside and told Buster that he was undermining his directorial authority. Buster genuinely apologized and faded into the background. Sedgewick couldn't get the set-ups he wanted, couldn't get the actors to understand his direction, and eventually gave up and asked Buster to take over. As quietly as he had left, Buster regained control of the scene. Buster began to call Sedgewick "Junior" and they became fast friends.
At the studio's insistence, Buster Keaton shot an ending with him smiling. It was previewed, and hated, so it was replaced with the ending the film now has.
Selected for the 2005 National Film Registry.
The baseball movie Pastime copied the scene from this film in which Buster Keaton's character enters an empty baseball stadium and pantomimes a game, playing all the positions.
The baseball stadium scene was more than just inspired comedy. Buster Keaton loved baseball and organized several charity teams in Hollywood. According to legend, the work application to Keaton's company asked two questions: 1. Are you a good actor? 2. Are you a good baseball player? The applicant who answered "yes" to either one had a job with Keaton.
The famous "Dressing Room Scene" was an on-the-fly bit added by Buster Keaton, who snagged unit manager Edward Brophy from the crew because he looked the part. The two men crammed, unrehearsed, into the cubicle, and ad-libbed the whole gag in a single take.
The film was almost lost forever. The master copy of it used today was made using a print that was found in Paris, in 1968, and a master positive copy of nearly the entire film, found in 1991. In modern copies of the film, the quality of the image varies dramatically; the scenes with best quality were obtained from the material found in 1991.
The scene in which Buster Keaton runs up and down the stairs of his rooming house when he's expecting Marceline Day's phone call was shot with an elevator crane. Though the German film The Last Laugh had used an elevator crane, this film was the first comedy to use it. In 1960, Jerry Lewis used an elevator crane in The Errand Boy, and some writers have erroneously credited him with being the first comedian to use one.
This film was used for many years by MGM as an example of a perfect comedy. The studio would get all its directors and producers to watch it and learn. Only two scenes were improvised on the spot by Buster Keaton: one was the baseball scene, and the other is the piggybank scene.
This was Buster Keaton's first movie after the studio told him that he was restricted to his movie making, starting with this, he had to do what movies he was given.
When Buster Keaton falls off of the bus, a billboard for The Actress appears in the background. The titles for both films were written by Joseph Farnham.