Charles Chaplin practiced tightrope walking for weeks before filming. He actually performed on a rope 40 feet in the air. However, the footage was lost when the negative was scratched during processing. The scene had to be re-shot, and the footage included in the film was not as good as that which had been lost, in Chaplin's estimation.
Charles Chaplin's studio burnt down during production. This, combined with a number of major personal issues that arose during production, led to Chaplin's nervous breakdown (he spent time recovering in New York after about two-thirds of the film had been shot).
Final Charles Chaplin film of the silent era. He would make two more "silent" films, bucking the trend towards sound, however both City Lights and Modern Times would nonetheless include significant compromises to incorporate sound.
In October 2010, a clip from this movie was featured on several network morning shows because of speculation that it showed definitive evidence of "time travel." In the scene, an extra appears to be walking down the sidewalk, talking on, of all things, a cell phone.
In the 1969 re-issue, the 80-year-old Charles Chaplin sang the title song.
Premiere included live stage prologue written by Joseph Plunkett.