With a running time of one hour and 50 minutes, this is the longest of The Marx Brothers' theatrical films.
Groucho Marx's character initially was to have been named Dr. Quackenbush, which he and everyone else thought was too silly a name to offend anyone. However, MGM's legal department discovered at least a dozen legitimate U.S. doctors named Quackenbush, so for legal reasons the name was changed to Hackenbush. Although initially dismayed by the name change, Groucho later came to like it. He cited "Dr. Hackenbush" as his favorite character from his films, and even occasionally signed letters to friends using that name.
This is the only film of The Marx Brothers to receive an Oscar nomination in a competitive category, being nominated for Dave Gould's dance direction. Groucho Marx would go on to win an honorary Oscar in 1974.
Glenn Mitchell's commentary on the Warner Home Video DVD states that the band backing Ivie Anderson's rendition of "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" was drawn from the Duke Ellington Orchestra, for whom Anderson was a vocalist at the time. Despite her strong voice and physical energy, she suffered from chronic asthma, which would eventually result in her retiring from Ellington's orchestra and which would eventually take her in 1949. Interestingly, the house where she lived at the time of filming still stands at 724 E. 52nd Place in Los Angeles; a part of the 52nd Place Historic District.
MGM executive Irving Thalberg died within two weeks of the start of filming. He was instrumental in bringing The Marx Brothers back to greatness with A Night at the Opera (1935) and was the brothers' main supporter at MGM. Groucho Marx claimed that he lost interest in films after Thalberg's death.