The scenario was based on the story, “Brothers” by Elmer Blaney Harris; its publication could not be determined from available sources. A screen version, titled The Forbidden Woman, was announced in the 25 May 1927 Film Daily as an upcoming project for producer Cecil B. DeMille and actress Jetta Goudal.
       Principal photography was scheduled to begin on 5 July 1927, as stated in that day’s Los Angeles Times. It was also noted that Goudal had recently unleashed her well-known temperament on director Paul Stein and assistant director Curt Rehfeld, by refusing to speak to them in their native German, despite her fluency in the language. In addition, she disapproved the casting of co-star Victor Varconi, due to a “feud” that began on their previous collaboration, Fighting Love (1927, see entry). The 24 July 1927 edition noted that the entire cast was comprised of European actors, including Goudal, a native of France, Varconi from Hungary, Ivan Lebedeff from Lithuania, and Austrians Joseph Schildkraut and Josephine Norman, as well as director Paul Stein.
       Although the 9 July 1927 Exhibitors Herald claimed that the picture was to be released by Producers Distributing Corp. (Pro-Dis-Co), the company had been dissolved more than three months earlier. One week later, the 16 July 1927 issue reported that DeMille’s Culver City, CA, studio had recently partnered with the Pathé Exchange, Inc.
       Principal photography began on 21 July 1927, with a budget of $125,000, according to a chart in the 20 August 1927 Exhibitors Herald. A similar chart in the 10 September 1927 issue revealed that the budget had been inflated to $257,000. Four days later, Variety reported that Stein was returning to Germany. Goudal also ended her association with DeMille following a disagreement over the film’s closing scene. While the actress wanted the picture end with a shot of her character facing death alone, the studio insisted on adding an epilogue. The 29 October 1927 Moving Picture World later claimed that Goudal had “curbed her temperament” and returned to DeMille, promising “no more emotional outbursts.” However, an 18 December 1927 Los Angeles Times article contradicted the story and defended Goudal’s “temperament” as her artistic inclination to improve the quality of her films. The actress gave as an example Stein’s instruction to think of her character, “Zita,” as a good woman in difficult circumstances. Goudal disagreed, explaining that Zita’s lack of shame proved that she was correct to play her as a bad woman.
       The Forbidden Woman was released on 7 November 1927, preceded by an opening at the Paramount Theatre in New York City during the week of 29 October 1927. An item in the 18 March 1928 Los Angeles Times stated that it earned the highest number of bookings of any DeMille production, except for Three Faces East (1926, see entry), in which Goudal also starred. That same edition reported that the actress had been awarded $31,000 after suing the former DeMille Corp. for nearly three times that amount. The court ruled that “the obedience of an artist is not the obedience of a menial,” concluding that Goudal had “a legal right to so-called fits of temperament.” Pathé had since taken over the studio.
       According to the Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database, this film is extant.