This was the first American movie about sexuality.
Describing this as the most important film in Universal Picture's history (and Carl Laemmle's) may not be an overstatement. Made for a mere $5,700.00 and tackling the lurid subject of white slavery, this (Universal's first feature length release) earned a whopping $450,000.00 and it put the company squarely on the map.
Countless films had adapted books or plays, but this was the first film to serve as the basis for a novel, once it had had a successful theatrical release. The novelization was written by Eustace Hale Ball.
This film is often regarded as the wellspring of what is now called the sexploitation sub-genre.
The first movie not based on a play or book to get a Broadway opening.