Once considered a "lost" film, it premiered on Turner Classic Movies on 5 October 2022.
This film has a 100% rating based on 5 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Administration Building of the Whittier School, which appears in several exterior scenes, still stands as of 2022.
Restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2019.
Much of the picture was shot at the Whittier State School in Whittier, California. It was opened in 1891 as a co-ed reform school for juvenile offenders. In 1913 the girls were moved to their own facility in Ventura, California. The school was renamed the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys in 1941 after a long-serving superintendent. The institution closed in 2004. The 74 acre site has been undergoing residential and commercial redevelopment since, save for some buildings that have been designated historical landmarks.