Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein score after the film had been shot as a part-talking drama. Several scenes were then reshot to include songs, and an eighteen-minute sound prologue was added. The prologue included short speeches by Carl Laemmle and Florenz Ziegfeld and songs from the stage production were performed by Helen Morgan, Jules Bledsoe and Tess "Aunt Jemima" Gardella. Two other filmed versions of the play were made, in 1936 and 1951 (see entries below).