 Columbia Pictures was considered a Poverty Row studio at the time of  the films release. Both MGM and Warner Brothers would loan out  temperamental actors to Columbia as a humbling experience. Studio  boss Harry Cohn (qv), who was loathe to pay for his own roster of  contract stars during the early 30s, would invariably assign them  to work on Frank Capra (qv)s films. Although the studio had  received Oscar nominations prior to this picture, its success  virtually single