The film's title card reads: "The Adventures of Martin Eden by Jack London." The film's working title was Martin Eden. London's novel was first serialized in Pacific Monthly (Sep 1908-September 1909). A November 1941 Hollywood Reporter news item notes that Mimi Aguglia was originally to play the role of "Marie Sylva." The Adventures of Martin Eden marked Samuel Bronston's first effort as a producer. According to a news item in Los Angeles Daily News, Bronston intially planned to produce the film with James Roosevelt, with Pat O'Brien in the title role. A Columbia publicity item contained in the AMPAS Library production file adds that Robert J. McDonald, who portrayed the judge in the picture, was Bronston's head legal counsel. London's novel was filmed twice before: by Bosworth, Inc. in 1914 as Martin Eden, directed by Hobart Bosworth and starring Lawrence Peyton (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-20; F1.2852); and in Russia in 1918 as Creation Can't Be Bought, directed by Nikandr Turkin and starring Vladimir Mayakowsky.