The 5 Aug 1929 FD announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M-G-M) had acquired dialogue rights to Dulcy, the 1923 First National Pictures silent film starring Constance Talmadge, which was adapted from the 1921 play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly. Five days later, the 10 Aug 1929 Motion Picture News reported that King Vidor would direct the picture, and Marion Davies was cast in the leading role of “Dulcy.”
       Referring to the picture as Dulcy, the 10 Sep 1929 FD indicated that principal photography would begin that week at M-G-M Studios in Culver City, CA.
       According to the 26 Oct 1929 Exhibitors Herald-World, the opening driving scenes were filmed near Pasadena, CA. An eight-cylinder engine automobile was required, since the first attempt using a six-cylinder car caused interference with the sound - its “engine explosions” were “out of time with the high sound-wave frequency of the microphone.” A platform was built over the front bumper, where cameras and microphones were mounted, and cables were run to a sound recording truck that drove ahead. Actor Elliott Nugent had to maintain a speed of twenty miles an hour in his roadster to keep the pace even with the sound truck.
       The 26 Nov 1929 FD reported that filming had completed. The title change to Not So Dumb was announced in the 9 Dec 1929 FD.
       The picture was favored by critics. The 9 Feb 1930 FD review deemed Not So Dumb a “first-rate comedy brightly done,” declaring that Marion Davies “proves conclusively that she is a comedienne.” The Jun 1930 Picture Play also praised Davies, stating: “her work is so clever you want to choke her while laughing at her dumb efforts to be the little fixer between her fiancé and his boss.”
       M-G-M produced another adaptation in 1940 titled Dulcy, directed by S. Sylvan Sullivan and starring Ann Sothern and Ian Hunter (see entry).