Director John Huston carried on a torrid affair with Olivia de Havilland during the shoot. Warners studio head Jack L. Warner said, "Anyone could see that . . . it was Valentine's Day on the set . . . When I saw the rushes I said to myself, 'Oh-oh, Bette has the lines, but Livvy is getting the best camera shots'."
This is the third of five films in which Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland appeared together, the others being "It's Love I'm After" (1937), "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939), "Thank Your Lucky Stars" (1943) and "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964).
As in "The Maltese Falcon" Walter Huston contributes a cameo, as the bartender in a pivotal scene, in his director son John's movie.
Bette Davis remarked in a 1987 appearance on Donahue (1967), in response to an audience member's question, that this was the one the movie she regretted making, calling it "a most disgraceful film." She went on to say that she had begged studio head Jack L. Warner not to cast her in it. Davis elaborated, in part, that the role just wasn't right for her, as her character was supposed to be a young woman and her true age then was much older. In truth, Davis disliked how she physically looked in the film and especially her character's bigotry, so much so that she never watched it again.
Both Bette Davis' and Olivia de Havilland's characters have masculine given names--Stanley and Roy, respectively. The film never hints that there is anything unusual about their names, nor does it offer any explanation. In the novel it is insinuated that Mr Timberlake wanted sons and gave them masculine names in the hope that it would make them feel strong and independent.
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