Articles in the 8 Jun 1929 and 6 Jul 1929 Hollywood Filmograph announced the upcoming production as actor Leo Carrillo’s first starring role for Tiffany-Stahl Productions, Inc. Based on the 1916 play, Mister Antonio by Booth Tarkington, the project was chosen especially for Carrillo, who was expert in Spanish and Italian accents.
       As noted in the 3 Aug 1929 Motion Picture News, John M. Stahl, head of the company’s Hollywood, CA, studio, postponed production for several weeks while he recovered from an illness. The 10 Aug 1929 issue included Viola Louie among the cast. A news item in the 6 Oct 1929 Film Daily credited Frank Riecher with directing only the picture’s dialogue sequences. Production had apparently been completed sometime earlier.
       According to the 21 Sep 1929 Motion Picture News, the film “premiered” early that month at a theater owners’ convention in Butte, MT. Conflicting release dates were published in the 15 Feb 1930 Harrison’s Reports (1 Oct 1929), and the 1930 Film Daily Year Book (15 Oct 1929).
       Mister Antonio made its West Coast debut at the Oriental Theatre in Portland, OR, in Oct 1929. A New York City opening followed on 6 Dec 1929 at Loew’s New York Theatre. Although the picture garnered a positive review in the 8 Dec 1929 Film Daily, the May 1930 Educational Screen asserted that Carrillo’s performance was “its only merit.”
       The 25 Oct 1929 Film Daily reported that the negative for the silent version was destroyed in a fire the previous night at the Consolidated Film Industries laboratory in Los Angeles, CA.