Merle Oberon fell in love with the film's cinematographer, Lucien Ballard, and they married the following year. Because of facial scars Oberon sustained in a car accident, Ballard developed a unique light for her that washed out any signs of her blemishes. The device is known to this day as the Obie (not to be confused with the Off-Broadway award).
Laird Cregar's screen presence and performance created such a sensation that Twentieth Century Fox planned to cash in on their find by putting him in similar roles in other productions. The first of these was Hangover Square which re-united director John Brahm, screenwriter Barre Lyndon and co-star George Sanders. The plans were cut short when Laird Cregar was stricken by a fatal heart attack at the end of the year. "Hangover Square" would be released after his death.
George Sanders also played Inspector Warwick in the 1932 British version, but was uncredited.
The sequence involving the killing of Annie Rowley was judged to be so well done that studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck ordered it placed at the beginning of the picture. Actress Helena Pickard's face was not shown so that it became a simple matter of re-dubbing the dialog so that she is addressed as "Katie."