Carole Lombard (uncredited) plays one of Gloria's four friends, who are all in three key scenes: one in which they are eavesdropping while Tom proposes marriage, another while Gloria is getting dressed for her wedding, and finally as bridesmaids at the wedding. Lombard is standing directly between and behind Tom and Gloria. Clark Gable (also uncredited) can be recognized as one of a group of men standing in front of a bar in a briefly glimpsed medium shot. (Gable and Lombard did not actually meet until several years later when they starred opposite each other in No Man of Her Own (1932).) Gary Cooper also appears in a small part - actually two small parts, as both a flood victim and a survivor.
The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889, resulting in the death of 2,208 people in the town and surrounding area. At the time of the flood, Johnstown had a population of about 30,000 people.
The scenes of the town flooding have been used in Flaming Frontiers (1938) and Mystery of the River Boat (1944).
On TCM TV channel, Dave Karger introduced The Johnstown Flood (1926) on January 8, 2024 as the world television premiere of the newly restored film. One original nitrate print survived thanks to the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. New 4K restoration was spearheaded by film historian and preservationist Robert A. Harris and film archivist James T. Mockoski. They used the original tints found in the print, and the score recorded by Mont Alto Orchestra was also based on the original accompaniment.
As this was her first dramatic role, Janet Gaynor said in Photoplay Magazine, she tried so hard to get in the right mood that she was trembling with emotion before each scene, and a property boy had to control her shaking.