The movie was adapted by Jules Furthman from the play Amy Jolly by Benno Vigny. It was directed by Josef von Sternberg.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Marlene Dietrich--who, amazingly, knew little English, and spoke her dialogue phonetically), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Director (Josef von Sternberg).
The movie was notorious in its day for a woman-to-woman kiss. It has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.