Smilin' Through

Fredric March commented to his first cousin, Kathryn Davis, about working with Norma Shearer, that, yes, she was a great actress and very professional, but she could be difficult because she constantly expected perfection. When Davis asked what that specifically meant, March replied, "She was never satisfied, kept having us do take after take." Pausing, he continued, unabashed, "Especially our love scenes. She always wanted to redo all the love scenes, several times!" Davis wanted to ask why he supposed Shearer always wanted to retake the love scenes in particular, but thought better of it and kept silent.

The bulk of the story takes place during the WWI era, 1915-1919, but all of Norma Shearer's clothes, hats, and hairstyles are in the 1932 mode, the year the film was made, a typical practice of the era.

As MGM would later do with The Wizard of Oz (1939), no mention at all is made of any of the actors having dual roles. Thus, the characters "Moonyeen" and "Jeremy Wayne" are not mentioned in the credits, although the characters are drastically important to the story.