The movie was so popular that it became a radio serial on 25 October 1937, dramatizing the later lives of characters in the movie. The serial lasted for 18 years.
The beginning of filming had been delayed because of a makeup artists' and hairdressers' strike by their unions to win recognition of the studios as a guild shop, and there was only a skeleton crew to groom the actors. Barbara O'Neil, who was making her film debut after years on the stage, was particularly upset by having to cross picket lines and be made up behind drawn curtains by Bob Stephanoff, head of the United Artists makeup department. Rattled by this experience and uncertain about film acting, O'Neil often arrived on the set for her scenes feeling very unsure of herself. Aware of her discomfort, Barbara Stanwyck visited O'Neill in her dressing room to offer encouragement. O'Neill would later recall her as "a marvellous, warm-hearted person. I knew it while working with her, and - recently watching a rerun of Stella Dallas - I understood the depth and strength of her work."
Samuel Goldwyn would have preferred Ruth Chatterton for the title role, but she turned it down, having just played a less-than-perfect wife in Dodsworth (1936).
Barbara Stanwyck underwent a physical transformation to play her role, in which she ages some 15 or 20 years. For the first and only time in her career, she bleached her hair. In other movies where she appears blonde, she is wearing a wig - and she does don them for certain scenes here. But she wanted to use her own hair whenever possible. Wearing wigs, she said, would mean that "I couldn't do anything with my hands, like running them through my hair. Furthermore, in her home Stella's hair was neglected, unkempt - and that just can't be done realistically except with one's own hair." Goldwyn's head designer, Omar Kiam, outfitted her with some outrageously tacky costumes that reflected her character's lack of taste. Late in the film, he added lumpy padding to her torso and legs. She wore five pairs of hose to make her ankles look thick, and at times her cheeks were stuffed with cotton. "It was a matter of upholstery," Stanwyck later laughed.
According to Anne Shirley, Barbara Stanwyck was the ultimate professional on set. "She was prepared to the very top of her ability. Dialogue learned perfectly. Hair, clothes, energy ready."