Because of its vitriolic take on Tinseltown, this was unsurprisingly turned down by all the major studios in Hollywood. It eventually found a home at United Artists.
Stanley Shriner Hoff was an amalgam of various studio heads and not --- as many believed --- a direct parody of Columbia head Harry Cohn (Hoff's penchant for crying was borrowed from one of Louis B. Mayer's more idiosyncratic traits). Nevertheless, Cohn took personal offense at the characterization.
Shot in 15 days.
The character of Patty Benedict is obviously a nod to Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and to a lesser extent Louella Parsons.
The scandalous cover-up depicted in the film supposedly is based on a real-life incident involving a young John Huston. Louis B. Mayer apparently paid gossip columnist Louella Parsons a large sum of money not to disclose the incident in her column.