It was during the making of this film that the head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer personally offered Norma Shearer the title role in Mrs. Miniver (1942) but she turned it down, balking at the notion of playing a mother with a grown son. Shearer opted instead to do a poorly-received remake of Her Cardboard Lover (1942), which would be her final film before retiring.
Completed in 1941, but not released until 1942, this film found itself out of tune with the times, once the USA had entered World War II.
This film failed at the box office, resulting in a loss to MGM of $409,000 ($7.5M in 2023) according to studio records.
This was based on a one-act play of the same title which was part of a group of nine one-act plays by Noël Coward first produced in 1936. The production was entitled "Tonight at 8:30", and it consisted of three bills of three plays each, which were played in repertory on three different evenings. Also in the collection were "Still Life", which was later filmed as Brief Encounter (1945), and The Astonished Heart (1950), which also was later filmed.
"Tonight at 8:30" opened in London on 9 January 1936; the Broadway openings for each part took place on 24 November 1936, 27 November 1936 and 30 November 1936 and starred Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, running for a total of 118 performances for all three shows. There were 2 Broadway revivals.
In an ongoing, ultimately ill-fated effort to adapt her image to changing times, Norma Shearer colored her brunette hair auburn for this lightweight drawing room comedy.