Edens headed the search for the right singer-actor to play Joe, the key supporting character who sings "Ol' Man River", and he discovered William Warfield after reading a rave review of his performance in a New York song recital.
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From 1942 through 1957 they gave joint birthday parties during which each presented a surprise production number using special material which featured their friends— Garland, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Dorothy Dandridge, Maureen O'Hara, Ray Bolger, Ann Sothern, Danny Kaye, Charles Walters, Cole Porter, Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane among others—each never telling the other while rehearsing what the other was planning to present.
Roger Moore | Roger Corman | Roger Federer | Roger Daltrey | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Roger Waters | Roger Maris | Roger McGuinn | Beaumont-le-Roger | Roger Zelazny | Roger Ebert | Roger Clemens | Roger Smith | Roger Miller | Roger Tory Peterson | Roger Vadim | Roger Sanchez | Roger Blench | Roger Williams | Roger & Me | Roger Taylor | Roger Staubach | Roger Heim | Roger Goodell | Roger Douglas | Roger Williams (theologian) | Roger Sherman | Roger Mayweather | Roger Lancelyn Green | Roger B. Taney |
The film is jokingly regarded as the first (and only) M-G-M musical made at Paramount Studios since Roger Edens was the producer, Stanley Donen was the director, and quite a few of the staff members under the Arthur Freed Unit at Metro (including Adolph Deutsch, Conrad Salinger, and Skip Martin), along with Astaire and Kay Thompson, were brought over to Paramount to make this film.