This film was based on the 1928 play The Little Accident by Floyd Dell and Thomas Mitchell, and the 1927 novel An Unmarried Father by Floyd Dell. For information on other films based on the play and novel, please consult the entry for the 1944 RKO film Casanova Brown, directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright.
       An article in the 2 April 1930 issue stated that The Little Accident was on the slate of Universal Pictures Corp.’s new “specials only” program, in which 20 pictures were scheduled to be made at the cost of 50; a similar policy had also been adopted for the studio’s shorts program. The 5 December 1929 Film Daily announced that Glenn Tryon was cast as “Norman Overbeck.” However, by 10 May 1930, Tryon had been replaced by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., as noted in that day’s Hollywood Filmograph. In the meantime, Universal attempted to cast contract player Lew Ayres. An article in the May 1931 Picture Play claimed that Ayres had rejected the role and quoted the actor as saying, “You can do what you like with my contract. I’ll go back to playing in an orchestra before I will do such a part.” Fairbanks, Jr. was borrowed from First National to appear in the picture, according to the 10 May 1930 Motion Picture News.
       Gene Towne was initially hired to adapt the screenplay, as reported in the 14 January 1930 Exhibitors Daily Review and Motion Pictures Today. Although a production chart in the 7 June 1930 Hollywood Filmograph listed both Towne and Gladys Lehman as writers, only Lehman was credited in contemporary reviews including the 12 July 1930 Motion Picture News and 9 August 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World. Film Daily also listed Anthony Brown as the dialogue writer. Principal photography began in May 1930 and ended by mid-June 1930, as noted in the 15 June 1930 Film Daily. Around the time of production, a theater manager named Robert McLaughlan in Cleveland, OH, who was staging the play version of The Little Accident, referred to the unfinished film in advertisements for the stage production, claiming that his version included scenes that would be deemed too controversial by the newly established Motion Picture Production Code, or Hays Code. The 14 June 1930 Motion Picture News quoted McLaughlan’s announcement as follows: “Poor Mr. Hays, the movie czar, evidently is having his own troubles taking all the naughty situations out of ‘The Little Accident’ to make it safe for pictures. See it now in its original unexpurgated form before it is slashed by the censor’s knife.”
       June Dwan Smith appeared in the film at three weeks old, according to an item in the September 1930 Photoplay, which noted that Smith was allowed to work only 20 minutes per day at a daily rate of $75.
       Prior to general release on 1 September 1930, the film had a preview screening in early or mid-July 1930 at Los Angeles, CA’s Belmont Theatre. An early opening also occurred on 1 August 1930 in New York City.