This movie was MGM's first all-talking picture, and the first sound film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
A silent version was also released, as many cinemas hadn't yet acquired sound equipment in 1929.
1929's top-grossing film.
Eddie Kane starred as a big shot Broadway producer named Francis Zanfield, which is an obvious take on Broadway legend Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.. Meanwhile, the character name Jock Warriner (played by Kenneth Thomson) was meant to sound like Jack L. Warner, who was the head of Warner Bros. Studio, the main rival of MGM studio at that time.
The first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The category of Best Picture was introduced in the second annual Academy Awards in 1930, whereas the first in 1929 had two similar categories, "Best Picture, Production" (awarded to Wings (1927)) and "Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production" (awarded to Sunrise (1927)).