Budgeted at a mere $225,000, which was extremely low even by RKO standards, this picture netted a rather impressive $262,000 in profits.
Persistent heavy rains and John Carradine briefly being incapacitated from an illness slowed production and made the film run well beyond its allotted shooting schedule.
According to Turner Classic Movies, there were real trees on the set for the jungle scenes. In one scene, Lucille Ball was leaning against one of the prop trees and spiders crawled out of it and into her hair, sending her and the rest of the cast screaming and running.
For some of the cast members such as Wendy Barrie, Chester Morris, Joseph Calleia and C. Aubrey Smith, the film was made well past their career peaks but for others such as director John Farrow, Lucille Ball and John Carradine, it was merely a stepping-stone to greater things.
Ball, in particular, would emerge triumphant after being miscast and undervalued for years by both RKO and MGM when she became the star of one of the biggest hits in the history of television, I Love Lucy (1951-57).
In addition to this film, co-star John Carradine appeared in eight other films in 1939, among them John Ford's Stagecoach (one of Carradine's best roles), Jesse James, directed by Henry King, and The Three Musketeers, a comedic version of the Dumas classic headlined by The Ritz Brothers and Don Ameche.
Ball, in particular, would emerge triumphant after being miscast and undervalued for years by both RKO and MGM when she became the star of one of the biggest hits in the history of television, I Love Lucy (1951-57).
In addition to this film, co-star John Carradine appeared in eight other films in 1939, among them John Ford's Stagecoach (one of Carradine's best roles), Jesse James, directed by Henry King, and The Three Musketeers, a comedic version of the Dumas classic headlined by The Ritz Brothers and Don Ameche.