Tennessee Williams, then little-known, contributed some additional dialogue to the film without credit.
According to contemporary articles in "The Hollywood Reporter", this was the first film to have a world premiere specifically for US combat forces overseas. Lana Turner appeared at the event, which took place in Naples, Italy, on September 23, 1944.
In early September 1941, George Cukor was announced as the film's director and Robert Taylor and Myrna Loy were announced as the stars. The entire project was scrapped by Warners and sold to MGM after numerous re-writes and rejections from the Production Code Administration. MGM had to make several changes to the novel's plot to meet the Production Code, including removing blatant references to adultery and abortion. Approval of the script was not received until January 1943.
Production started shortly after Lana Turner had given birth to her daughter, Cheryl Crane who was an RH baby and had to remain in the hospital. Turner was anemic during filming due to the fact that MGM ordered her back to work before she had fully recovered.
Natalie Schafer, who plays Lana Turner's mother in this picture, also played her mother in the television series The Survivors (1969).