The title of the original story appeared in Paramount Pictures Corp. studio records as "The Severed Scarabs" or "The Scarabaeus." The film version, titled The Undying Flame, was announced in the 21 April 1917 Moving Picture World as Madame Olga Petrova's first production for the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co.
       Articles in the 12 May 1917 Motion Picture News and 26 May 1917 Moving Picture World reported that desert sequences were made in St. Augustine, FL, with interiors shot at Lasky’s recently acquired facility in Fort Lee, NJ. The 1920 Motion Picture News Studio Directory listed Barry Whitcomb as an additional cast member.
       The Undying Flame was released on 24 May 1917, making its New York City debut three days earlier at the Rialto Theatre. According to the 7 July 1917 Motography, Rialto manager Samuel L. “Roxy” Rothapfel staged an elaborate presentation of the film, adorning the stage with images of pyramids, the Great Sphinx, and “ancient ruins” with a skyscape overhead. The prologue featured a bank of lights simulating the dawn as eight dancing girls in Egyptian costume passed across the stage to the music of Guiseppe Verdi’s “Prayer” from the opera, Aida. Petrova appeared at the Rialto on 1 June 1917 to present Rothapfel with a silver trophy, which was to remain in his possession for one year, after which it would be awarded to nine other deserving exhibitors over the next ten years. Petrova’s intent was to “encourage the improvement of music in motion picture theaters.”
       A review in the 25 May 1917 Variety and a letter to the December 1917 Photoplay both mocked Petrova for portraying a princess of ancient Egypt who wore a twentieth-century corset. The latter publication quoted the actress as stating that The Undying Flame was her only picture of which she was not ashamed.
       The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of February 2021.