Filmed in September 1930, but not released until April 1931, two months after the death of Louis Wolheim, its star and director.
RKO rented six high-speed boats at $500 per hour to patrol the harbor at Catalina and prevent excessive noise during shooting, according to a contemporary Film Daily news item.
When Frisco Kitty Mary Astor returns from a rough encounter with Captain Sam McVey Louis Wolheim, she tells her cohort Smiley Marsden Ian Keith that "McVey, our noble captain, just pulled a hairy ape gag on me," a reference to the brutish title character in the Eugene O'Neill play filmed as The Hairy Ape (1944).)
In O'Neill's original 1922 Broadway production, Wolheim became famous as the title character, a coaler on an ocean liner.
In O'Neill's original 1922 Broadway production, Wolheim became famous as the title character, a coaler on an ocean liner.
This film has been preserved by the Library of Congress.
At one point in the movie, Mary Astor. as Frisco Kitty, tells her partner Ian Keith, as Smiley Marsden. that Captain McVey "just pulled the Hairy Ape routine on me". "The Hairy Ape" was a 1922 play by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. Its star was none other than Louis Wolheim who plays Captain McVey in this film. Wolheim was the first actor to play the role of Yank. His performance propelled Wolheim into Broadway stardom and made him famous.