The 2-strip Technicolor sequence, running 442 feet, i.e. the flashbacks to San Francisco's Chinatown, when Sam was a child, only survives in black and white and has been given a Sepiatone treatment for the Turner Classic Movies presentation.
According to an article in the December 1929 edition of Screenland magazine, Richard Barthelmess took Chinese language lessons for his role as Sam Lee.
In September 1928, Warner Bros. Pictures purchased a majority interest
in First National Pictures and from that point on, all "First National" productions were actually made under Warner Bros. control, even though the two companies continued to retain separate identities until the mid-1930's, after which time "A Warner Bros.-First National Picture" was often used.
In a separately filmed trailer, Vitaphone production reel #3385, Richard Barthelmess appears before the audience and talks about the picture.
The novel of the same title upon which this film was based was serialized in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan magazine from October, 1928 to March, 1929.