The scenario was based on the 1890 melodrama, Blue Jeans, by Joseph Arthur. The acquisition of screen rights Metro Pictures Corp. was announced in the 24 Aug 1917 Var. Metro star Mabel Taliaferro reportedly debuted in the play when she was a toddler. Principal photography was underway by 8 Sep 1917, as stated in that day’s issue of Motion Picture News. Exteriors were to be filmed in various locations around New York State, while interiors were shot at Metro Studios on West Sixty-First Street in New York City. Lead actress Viola Dana revealed in the Oct 1917 Photoplay that she had hoped to star in a screen version of the play, The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917, see entry), as she had already played the title role on stage. However, after the property had been acquired by producer Adolph Zukor for Mary Pickford, Metro promised Dana the lead in Blue Jeans as consolation. An article in the 15 Dec 1917 Motion Picture News revealed that director John H. Collins refused to hire anyone with prior experience in the play for his production, stating that he was making a film for contemporary audiences, not for those of the 1890s.
       Roslyn, NY, was identified in the 20 Oct 1917 Motion Picture News as the location for an escape sequence, which featured co-stars Sally Crute and Clifford Bruce on a single horse, vaulting over a buckboard driven by “the sheriff.” Also filmed in Roslyn was a scene in which Viola Dana leaped from the window of sawmill. The 24 Nov 1917 edition stated that she insisted on performing a stunt herself.
       On 27 Oct 1917, Motion Picture News reported that Clifford Bruce had been injured at an automobile repair shop when his car fell backward down an elevator shaft. His injuries included a badly broken nose, a lacerated left eye, and a wrenched back. Bruce was recuperating at his home in Bayside, NY, and hoped to return to work within the next ten days. Two weeks later, the 10 Nov 1917 Motion Picture News stated that, following Bruce’s return, the last fifty scenes were shot in one night. The rush was necessitated by the fact that Viola Dana was expected at Metro’s Los Angeles, CA, studio soon after. That same issue noted that Charles Sutton appeared in the role of a minister. Also joining the cast was Kathleen Reilly, according to the 1918 Motion Picture Studio Directory. The close of production was confirmed in the 30 Nov 1917 Var.
       The 1 Dec 1917 Motion Picture News reported that the screen version was in demand at theaters that had also hosted the play. Metro intended to set admission prices at a level suitable for “the best of special productions,” and promoted the release with the catch phrase, “Who Is June?” The studio also expected the picture to inspire a renewed interest in music of the 1890s.
       Later that month, Metro president Richard A. Rowland told the 29 Dec 1917 Motion Picture News that he planned to superimpose the film’s subtitles over still images of the relevant scenes, believing they would facilitate, rather than interrupt, the action. That same edition also credited S. M. Berg with compiling the picture’s official musical score under the direction company executives Rowland, B. A. Rolfe, and Maxwell Karger. A recent preview screening at Wurlitzer Hall in New York City was reported in the 26 Dec 1917 New York Clipper.. The audience reportedly included “people connected with the original play.”
       Blue Jeans was released on 10 Dec 1917, followed by openings during the week of 6 Jan 1918 at the Strand Theatre in San Francisco, CA, and during the week of 20 Jan 1918 at Miller’s Theatre in Los Angeles. Reviews were generally positive, although the 1 Mar 1918 Motion Picture complained that "these are very offensive to our artistically trained eyes and seem to interrupt the action rather than facilitate it...." The 26 Jan 1918 Exhibitors Herald revealed that much of the climactic sawmill sequence had been removed by the Chicago, IL, Board of Censors.
       According to the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Treasures from the Film Archives database, this film is extant.