Produced by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in New York City, the short stars John R. Cumpson, Florence Lawrence, and Flora Finch as the "lady book agent".

Further details about the film's storyline are given in a May 10, 1909 bulletin published by Biograph:There is no question that the good-natured man is always made the "Patsy" and so it is that poor Jones, who is benignity personified, is always getting into hot water.

The work does not appeal to affable Edward, and he with gentlemanly firmness rejects her from his office, as his friend Dick Smith enters, to whom he mimics the ludicrous antics of his visitor.

[5]The screenplay, written by Frank E. Woods, was produced at Biograph's main studio, which in 1909 was located inside a large renovated brownstone mansion in New York City, in Manhattan, at 11 East 14th Street.

While some delays were due to scheduling considerations with other productions and the appropriate pairing of split reels, an interval of four months between final filming and release was very unusual in 1909, especially for such brief screen subjects.

Inclement weather might have played a role in that delay, for after filming interior scenes of The French Duel at Biograph's Manhattan studio, Griffith shot needed outdoor footage on location in Coytesville, situated in the borough of Fort Lee, New Jersey.

After their release, the split-reel films circulated to theaters throughout the United States and continued to be promoted for weeks in film-industry publications and for months by newspapers in both large and small communities.

For example, in June 1909 in Barre, Vermont, the local theater advertised a joint presentation of Jones and the Lady Book Agent and The French Duel with the two Edison comedies Uncle Tom Wins and The Unsuccessful Superstition as well as with a full vaudeville show of skits and "Scotch" singers.

[14] This ninth comedy of the "Jones series", like its predecessors, was popular with audiences, with "very funny" and "clever" being common descriptions of the shorts in contemporary newspaper and theater advertisements.

[3][d] Submitted by Biograph to the United States government in 1909, shortly before the film's release, the roll is part of the original documentation required by federal authorities for motion picture companies to obtain copyright protection for their productions.