Irving Berlin wrote "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan" for Fred and Ginger's previous movie, Top Hat, but the song was dropped.
At the time of production, the Oakland Bay Bridge was still under construction, so we see a night shot of the fleet sailing out through the Oakland Bay Bridge between the towers of the bridge, but the deck isn't in place yet.
During the fight scene between Fred Astaire and Randolph Scott, Astaire - not skilled in movie fight scenes - accidentally bloodied Scott's nose; Astaire was mortified, but Scott remained pointedly nonchalant.
During the final dance sequence on the boat it is possible to see Fred Astaire hit in the face by Rogers' beaded sleeve. The sequence was shot again 23 times in the hope of capturing the magic of that take without the accident, but it wasn't to be, and this original take was used.
For the dance number "Let Yourself Go," choreographer Hermes Pan scouted several talented amateurs from Los Angeles dance halls. The best couple was spliced into the routine.
The role of Connie Martin was originally planned for Irene Dunne, but she was unavailable.
The song 'Get Thee Behind me, Satan' was edited in prints shown in Great Britain to remove the word 'Satan' (which offended the overly prudish censorship board). The result looks and sounds as though the film is faulty and jumps several frames each time the line is sung, but the effect was deliberate and a highly unusual example of censorship, possibly the only time a popular song was edited in this way.
This is the feature film debut of Harriet Hilliard. A natural blond, she wears a brunette wig so as not to distract from fellow blond actress and, more importantly, the film's star Ginger Rogers.