The screenplay by Sam Hellman, Gladys Lehman, and Harry Tugend is based on the 1890 children's book of the same name by Laura E. Richards.

[3] Kindly lighthouse keeper, Captain January, has been raising and educating Star, a sweet, eight-year-old girl he rescued after her parents drowned at sea when she was a baby.

January is devastated over losing his job, while Nazro grows concerned that his letter to Mr. Mason goes unanswered, knowing Morgan will place Star in an orphanage.

A court hearing is scheduled, but Star's aunt and uncle, who have been out of the country for several years, arrive and assume custody of their niece.

In the famous Codfish Ball sequence, real lobsters were used on the set as a prop but were deemed potentially hazardous and were cooked and repainted their natural red color.

The bird kept pecking at Temple's eyes, however and as a way of solving this problem, nails were driven through the webbing of the crane's feet, anchoring it to the ground.

[5] Temple performed unintentional ad-lib during a scene with co-stars Kibbee and Summerville as they burlesqued the sextette from Lucia.