Shirley Temple disclosed in her autobiography that this was the only film she made in which she received an onscreen spanking, much to the chagrin of June Lang who played the spanker and feared that her career would suffer as a result of the audience seeing the popular Shirley being treated in this fashion. The scene was shot but cut from the final film.
The original story by Rudyard Kipling was about a boy, Percival Williams, but this was changed to a girl, Priscilla Williams, in order for Shirley Temple to play the role.
During the regimental dance, the band performs the old Scottish song, 'Annie Laurie,' poem by Scottish poet William Douglas with music and updated lyrics by Alicia Ann Spottiswoode, Lady John Scott.
The film had it's world premier showing on 25 June 1937 at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Hollywood.
(Daily News ((Los Angeles, Calif.)) 14 June 1937)
Shirley Temple revealed years later that she found herself being a victim to men's twisted fantasies in critics reviews for her movies. Famous British novalist, Graham Greene ended up becoming the most infamous of these critics. Referring to this film, he wrote about Temple, "Wearing short kilts, she is a complete totsy," and, "watch the way she measures a man with agile studio eyes, with dimpled depravity." Temple and Twentieth Century Fox sued Greene for libel and won.