In a 2002 Scripps Treasure Coast Publishing interview with Herman Raucher, he said he had no idea how old Dorothy was; she could have been 20, for all he knew.
In a 2002 Scripps Treasure Coast Publishing interview, Herman Raucher mentions that this film gave birth to the book "Summer of '42". Raucher revealed that this movie was written first; not the book. When this film was in post-production, someone told him to write the book about Summer of '42 to help publicize the picture. Raucher wrote the book in about 3 or 4 weeks.
On a budget of just $1M, this made $32M for Warner Bros. at the U.S. box office.
Although Dorothy wished Hermie only good things in her letter to him, still Hermie ended up facing several depressing incidents after she left him. Herman Raucher was severely depressed about not hearing from Dorothy after she left. Raucher's sister's fiancé died in 1944, his father passed away when he was 20, and his best friend Oscy died on Raucher's 24th birthday. Since the death of Oscy, Raucher never was able to celebrate his birthday again.