This box-office failure was the last directorial credit (he did some uncredited work on One Touch of Venus (1948)) for director, screenwriter and occasional producer Gregory La Cava, who had begun working in the film industry as an animator in 1916.
Per TCM, a biography of Kelly notes that the performer disliked the script and hated working with McDonald. It also notes that production on the film dragged on for nine months because of a union strike. Kelly, who was on the Screenwriters' Guild board of directors at the time, served as one of the arbitrators in the dispute and reportedly helped bring about the end of the strike.
The house Grandma Morgan takes Gogarty to was on MGM's Lot #3 in Culver City, California that was built for Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and was known as "St. Louis Street". This lot was sold off in 1970 and replaced by the Raintree Condominiums in 1972.
This film bombed at the box office, resulting in a loss to MGM of $1,939,000 (about $26.4M in 2022) according to studio records. It even fell substantially short of covering its negative cost.
Gogarty's medal ribbons below the wings on his uniform are: the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters - signifying multiple awards, the Purple Heart, and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three service/battle stars. By the six hash marks on his left sleeve he has spent over 3 years overseas. On his left shoulder is the patch for the 20th U.S. Army Air Force. Of note is that he began the film as a lieutenant and that after all that time and all the decorations he is still that rank at the end of the war.
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