The 19 June 1915 Motion Picture News announced that Lasky's newly hired director, J. P. McGowan, formerly of Kalem Pictures, was set to direct stage actress Fanny Ward in her first motion picture, Blackbirds, adapted from the successful Broadway play, although it is uncertain what role she was hired to play. A week later, the 26 June 1915 Motion Picture News reported that McGowan had begun production on the film with Laura Hope Crews, who had starred as "Leonie" in the Broadway production two years earlier. Blackbirds was Miss Crews' second film, after making her debut in Lasky's The Fighting Hope (1915, see entry). The item stated further that Carlyle Blackwell was set to costar in Blackbirds, but he did not appear in the final film, nor did Fanny Ward.
       According to an item in the 10 July 1915 Motion Picture News, the Lasky company "secured" the use of a $6,000 prayer rug for use in the movie from its owner, Arthur Letts, who owned a large Los Angeles department store.
       Although several sources, including the 21 August 1915 Motion Picture News, listed Blackbirds as a 21 October 1915 release, the film was moved up a week earlier, to 14 October, according to the 9 October 1915 Motion Picture News. A Lasky-Paramount advertisement in the 9 October 1915 Moving Picture World touted the film as "A Remarkable Expose of United States Custom Fraud."
       In the 30 October 1915 Motion Picture News, reviewer Peter Milne wrote, "For once it is necessary to criticize Lasky's subtitles. Some of them do not read evenly, some few state a fact that the action itself fully explains. These might be eliminated while the others would undoubtedly benefit by a little careful revision." The 22 October 1915 Variety noted, "The Algerian scenes were neatly studio-handled, in settings, costuming and make-ups."
       Realart Pictures Corp. remade Blackbirds in 1920.
       Blackbirds is extant, preserved in the Library of Congress.