An interesting element to the live play was that the jury was selected from the audience at each performance, and different endings were used according to how the jury voted at the end. (In Rand's reckoning, the heroine on trial technically wasn't guilty of the charge against her, but the evidence presented was evenly balanced; the verdict would be a reflection of the jury's own consciences.)
Author Ayn Rand hated the title "Night of January 16th"; she preferred the play's original title, "Woman on Trial". She also disowned the amateur and summer-stock adaptation of the play.
One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.
The storyline is based loosely on the career (and death) of Ivar Kreuger, the Swedish "Match King" who made and lost a fortune in business.