After the film won the Academy Award, Artie Shaw sued Brigitte Berman in Canadian court, claiming ownership of the film (which he liked). When he eventually lost his case both in the initial trial and on appeal, he restarted the suit in California courts. The legal difficulties prevented the film's release between 1987 and Shaw's death in 2004.
Artie Shaw agreed to do the film after being interviewed by Brigitte Berman for her previous film about Bix Beiderbecke, Bix: 'Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet' (1981), which he felt was an accurate documentary.