During the summer of 1928, entertainer and bandleader Ted Lewis, known as “the high-hat tragedian of jazz,” signed with Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., to star in two feature-length talking films. News items in the 11 Jul 1928 Var and 14 Jul 1928 Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World noted that Lewis and his band were offered a flat salary of $40,000 for the first, and $75,000 with a share of the profits for the second. The title of this film was derived from Lewis’s signature greeting, “Is everybody happy?”
       On 14 Mar 1929, LAEx announced that Lewis had arrived in Los Angeles, CA, to begin work on the film. Also joining the production were writer J. Keirn Brennan, who provided “special material” (17 Apr 1929 Film Daily), and two members of Lewis’s stage entourage, Arline Langan and Eleanor Brooks (17 Apr 1929 Var). The 15 Jun 1929 Hollywood Filmograph revealed that cast member Purnell Pratt was rehearing for another film starring Gloria Swanson at Pathé Studios, concurrently with his work at Warner Bros.
       Director Archie L. Mayo suffered a nervous breakdown during production and was replaced by Ray Enright, as stated in the 22 Jun 1929 Motion Picture News, which attributed co-star Julia Swayne Gordon’s role to Maude Turner Gordon. An article in the 6 Jul 1929 Hollywood Filmograph indicated that principal photography was completed soon after. That same issue credited Ray Perkins and J. Keirn Brennan with writing the song, “The Land of Jazz” for the picture, although other sources have claimed it was written by Ted Lewis. The 31 Aug 1929 edition stated that Lewis recorded two song from the picture for Columbia Records, "Wouldn't It Be Wonderful?" and "I'm the Medicine Man for the Blues," both written by Grant Clarke and Harry Akst. Both songs were to be issued on a single disc and cross-promoted with the film.
       Is Everybody Happy? was released on 19 Oct 1929, followed by openings at the Mark Strand Theatre in New York City on 1 Nov 1929, and at the Warner Bros. Downtown Theatre in Los Angeles on 4 Nov 1929. The 28 Oct 1929 LAT noted that the latter engagement had initially been reserved for another Warner release, Disraeli (1929, see entry). Lewis and his band were referred to as “Ted Lewis and his musical Klowns.”
       According to the 16 Nov 1929 Exhibitors Herald-World, the Mark Strand Theatre sponsored a “three-way newspaper letter contest” to promote the film’s New York City debut. Within a span of two weeks, contestants submitted letters to the Brooklyn Times describing the happiest moments of their lives. The first prize was a Columbia phonograph and a complete set of Ted Lewis records; the second prize was $100; fifty movie passes were awarded to the runners-up. The 16 Nov 1929 and 23 Nov 1929 editions of Motion Picture News reported that receipts for the New York City opening totaled $30,350, and $17,050 for the Los Angeles opening. Reviews were unenthusiastic.
       A novelization of the screenplay was written by Eleanor Carey and published by Efrus and Bennett, Inc.
       Lewis later starred in an unrelated 1943 release from Columbia Pictures Corp., also titled Is Everybody Happy?