Marilyn Monroe was billed as the star of the film despite the fact that she's only on camera for about one minute.
After the popular and critical success of two British anthology films based on W. Somerset Maugham short stories, Quartet and Trio, with different casts and crews for each episode, 20th Century-Fox felt that the time was right for an American version of this format.
When preview critics felt that "The Ransom of Red Chief" episode was weak, it was cut from the official premiere prints. When the film was released to television in the early 60's, the sequence was restored.