Reports claimed that uncredited co-producer Victor Saville actually directed large portions of the film.
The quote at the end of the movie is from 'The Gate of the Year' by Minnie Louise Haskins.
This film was banned for release in Germany by Adolf Hitler for its direct Anti-Nazi sentiments. As a result, all MGM films from that point forward would also be banned in the country for simply being produced and distributed by the same studio as this film.
When this movie was made, America was not part of World War II. At this time, a number of Hollywood studios were pro-American involvement in the war. This movie is one of a number of films made during the late 1930s and early 1940s that represented pro-American intervention in the war. These films include: A Yank in the R.A.F., Man Hunt, Foreign Correspondent, The Mortal Storm, Confessions of a Nazi Spy and Sergeant York.