Banned in many countries.
Ranked 9th best movie in 1936 by Film Daily's annual poll of critics.
Recreated on the radio show "Cavalcade of America" in 1940 and 1941, with Juano Hernandez as De Lawd.
The original Broadway stage production won the 1930 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened February 26, 1930, at the Mansfield Theatre in New York, and ran for 640 performances. Juanita Hall, who later played "Bloody Mary" in the stage and film versions of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's classic South Pacific, appeared in the original stage production.
The part of "De Lawd" was originally written to be played in blackface by Al Jolson. When that fell through, it was offered to Paul Robeson, who refused it. It was eventually given to Rex Ingram.