Warner Brothers' first feature-length film in full 3-strip Technicolor.
Bette Davis was to star in the movie, but was suspended when she failed to show up. She refused all of Jack L. Warner's offers until he agreed to her salary demands and a more open contract.
The filming location was in the vicinity of Mount St. Helens, a then dormant volcano in Washington State, which was prominent in the background in several scenes in the movie. In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, reducing the height of the summit by about 1300 feet and leaving a one mile wide horseshoe shaped crater.
The airplane Steve is forced into is a Sikorsky S-38 amphibious flying boat. First flown in 1928, a total of 101 were built at a cost of around $37,000 ($539,000 in 2018) each. About 21 were sold to the U.S. Army and Navy, but most were for the civilian market. Pan American Airlines was the airline who purchased the most, and famous citizens such as Charles A. Lindbergh and Howard Hughes owned one.
Technicolor cinematographer William V. Skall was relegated to the position of photographic advisor when he broke his ankle in a fall.