Joan Crawford and Clara Bow were the most prominent actresses considered for the title role before the younger, less experienced Harlow was cast. There had, in fact, been so many candidates for the role that MGM's Marie Dressler donned a red wig and posed for some gag publicity stills.
Jean Harlow wore a wig for this film. Because this film was filmed in black and white, to make up for the subtle change in hair color by the wig, her makeup was made more dramatic, to highlight the nature of her character.
Jean Harlow's first line is "So gentlemen prefer blondes, do they?" which was written by Anita Loos for the movie. Loos' most famous work was the 1925 novel "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".
Although the film was actually banned from public showings in Great Britain when it was originally released, King George V had a personal copy. It was finally passed uncut with an 'A' certificate in 1965.
The screenplay submitted by F. Scott Fitzgerald was rejected by producer Irving Thalberg, who thought it took the story too seriously, so he brought in Anita Loos to do a complete rewrite with a lighter, more comical tone.