"[2] The movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction by Martin Obzina, Jack Otterson and Russell A.
[3] The legend of "Claire of New Orleans" is born after two fishermen find a wedding dress floating around on the Mississippi River one day.
The legend tells that the Countess Claire Ledux disappeared on her wedding day in the year of 1840, and when the dress was found, the people of New Orleans assumed that the bride had committed suicide by throwing herself into the river.
When Claire arrives in New Orleans for the first time in her life she has a strong ambition to become Mrs Charles Giraud - a very rich and renowned banker.
But even the simplest plans go wrong, and on the way to the park Claire's carriage runs over a monkey by accident.
After this incident, where Charles was not only stood up by Claire since the carriage never arrived, but also deprived of a chance to come to her aid, he swears to avenge Robert Latour's insolent behaviour.
Robert gets a distinct advantage over Charles in the duel, and Claire steps in to interrupt what she fears will be the end of the banker's life.
Claire accepts his proposal, and sends a message via her maid to Robert, cancelling the dinner without telling him the real reason.
He rushes over to her house to offer his assistance, but sees Charles through the window, and realizes the real reason for her rejection.
During the evening Zolotov tells stories of Claire to a friend of his, Bellows, and Charles' brother-in-law hears them talk.
Zolotov has no wish to enter a duel with the banker, and swears he must have been mistaken, since the girl he knew was known to fake fainting to get a man's attention.
Charles agrees to meet with Lili that same night at the Oyster Bed Café, located down by the docks.
Charles brings Zolotov and Bellows to the restaurant, and demands that Lili leave town never to return - he doesn't wish to be associated with the kind of woman she is.
The wedding is held as planned a day later, but when Claire sees Robert as one of the guests, she realizes that he is the one she loves and fakes fainting again.
[4] The star was Marlene Dietrich who had revived her career at Universal appearing in Destry Rides Again (1939) produced by Joe Pasternak.
[5] In October 1940 Universal announced the director of Countess would be René Clair, who had arrived in Lisbon from France in August.
[6] Dietrich later said Clair's hiring was Pastenak's idea and "at first I resisted, but finally out of loyalty to my old principle that doing your duty was all that mattered, I yielded.
In December Universal said the film would now be called The Flame of New Orleans and star Andy Devine, Roland Young and Broderick Crawford alongside Dietrich.
The crew loathed Clair (surely because of the language barrier) to such an extent that the technicians almost pushed me off the set the moment they heard the order: “Pack up your things”.
Clair offered to shoot the scenes in two different ways so if the Hays Office objected Joe Pasternak would have an alternative.
[18] Krasna later said he felt that Marlene Dietrich could not play comedy, saying she had "a frozen face", and needed experienced comedic actors to play opposite her like Cary Grant and Adolphe Menjou; he thought Bruce Cabot and Roland Young were miscast (calling the leads "three people who didn't move").
[19] Hedda Hopper said the film was like "molasses in January... Clair's direction lacks the zip we demand... the flame simmered down to a slow burn.
[21] Pasternak wrote "the critics were, I thought, unfair to Rene" and he felt "if Clair had made this same picture in France and it had come over here with a French soundtrack and the usual subtitles, the critical ladies and gentlemen would have been talking about "Gallic wit," "the deft French touch," and "Latin sauciness."