Varying lengths were reported in contemporary sources. The 16 Jan 1921 Wid’s Daily review and a 5 Feb 1921 Moving Picture World item noted the film was 6,000 feet, or six reels, in length; the 3 Dec 1921 Exhibitors Trade Review listed a length of approximately 8,000 feet (eight reels); and a 22 Oct 1921 Exhibitors Herald review called the film a “wonderful high class 9-reel special.”
       As announced in the Jun 1920 issue of Motion Picture Magazine, producer Louis B. Mayer planned to adapt Sydney Grundy’s play, Sowing the Wind, for the screen, with Anita Stewart in the starring role. The 17 Jun 1920 Wid’s Daily reported that John M. Stahl would direct. Principal photography was underway as of 19 Jun 1920, according to a Wid’s Daily brief published that day. Shooting took place at Louis B. Mayer’s Los Angeles, CA, studio, as stated in the Nov 1920 issue of Motion Picture Classic. On 21 Aug 1920, Exhibitors Herald claimed that filming had just been completed, and Anita Stewart had left Los Angeles to spend two months at her summer home in Long Island, New York.
       Sowing the Wind was touted by Associated First National Pictures as one of its “Big Five” productions of 1921, as stated in the 12 Feb 1921 Exhibitors Herald. Other films in the Big Five included The Kid, The Oath, and Man—Woman—Marriage (1921, see entries). The fifth film was referred to by the title Passion.
       Although the 25 Dec 1920 Exhibitors Herald stated that director John M. Stahl’s wife, Frances Irene Reels, wrote the picture, her name was not mentioned in later news items or reviews, and Franklyn Hall was identified as the adaptation writer.
       Mayer held a pre-review screening of the film on 18 Jan 1921 at the Hotel Alexandria ballroom in Los Angeles, CA, according to the 22 Jan 1921 Motion Picture News. Months earlier, the 7 Jun 1920 Wid’s Daily had listed a scheduled release date of 24 Jan 1921. However, a release chart in the 19 Feb 1921 issue of Motion Picture News listed an opening date of 29 Jan 1921, and nearly three months later, an item in the 14 May 1921 Motion Picture News stated that Sowing the Wind was not yet in general release, but had been given pre-release screenings in several cities. First National expressed confidence that its plan to group the “Big Five” together “for the purpose of advertising and exploitation” was paying off, with the success of the first three already in general release: Passion, The Kid, and Man—Woman—Marriage.
       By the week of 21 May 1921, Sowing the Wind was playing at Los Angeles’s Kinema Theatre, according to the 28 May 1921 Motion Picture News. In New York City, the film played at the Mark Strand Theatre, as noted in an advertisement in the 17 Jun 1921 Var.
       An item in the 7 May 1921 Motion Picture News stated that, as a result of the success of Sowing the Wind and The Woman in His House (1920, see entry), another film John M. Stahl had directed for Mayer, a special producing arm for Stahl’s projects had been formed within Mayer’s organization.