According to Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne, the reason this film was (almost) lost was that Rafael Sabatini, the author of the book, didn't sell the movie rights to MGM outright. Instead, he leased them for 10 years, and in 1936 MGM chose not to renew the lease because it decided that a silent film with a now-dead star no longer had commercial value. So, according to the terms of Sabatini's contract, MGM destroyed the negative and all known prints.
Long thought lost, a print of this film was discovered in a private collection in France and restored for a DVD release. It was missing its third reel, but scenes from the trailer and production stills were edited in via a continuity script.
The scene with the romantic boat ride through the weeping willows was the result of impromptu providence. Director King Vidor showed up in a park in Pasedena, CA, to shoot the scene with no real plan on how to do it. At the park he was inspired when he saw the boat and willow trees. He then had his crew quickly construct a tunnel of willow branches.
Eleanor Boardman would marry director King Vidor about three months after this production wrapped. They would make seven films together, the first being Souls for Sale (1923), and the last was The Crowd (1928). The couple would divorce in 1933.