David O. Selznick went back to RKO from MGM to produce the movie. He was given no credit. This was the last movie in his contract with the studio. Katharine Hepburn asked costume designer Walter Plunkett to make a special dress for her character. This dress was based on one worn by her grandmother in an old photograph (a tintype) Hepburn owned. Plunkett also had to redesign many of Joan Bennett's costumes because she was going to have a baby.