The film was re-released in 1934, at which time the title credits were re-done, Arliss given billing as "Mr. George Arliss," and an NRA (National Recovery Act) emblem added; this is the version which presently survives. Unfortunately, the remainder of the film is cropped off the left side, in order to accommodate the sound-on-film system track, which had, by then, replaced the now obsolete Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, and required a slightly narrower picture image as a result. Some pre-Code footage, about three minutes, was also deleted and is believed to be lost.
Many of the intrigues depicted in the movie are Hollywood fabrications meant to enliven the story. One of the more interesting was the depiction of financier Sir Hugh Myers who funded the purchase of the Suez Canal only to go bankrupt just as the transaction is closing, thanks to Russian skulduggery. The character, and the plot twist, are fictional, as the real-life backer of the deal was Lionel de Rothschild, a world famous English-Jewish banker who never suffered bankruptcy. His name was changed as the Rothschild family would not have appreciated the implication of financial disaster, even as a fictional ploy.
Disraeli (1929) marked George Arliss' first appearance onscreen in five years and his released first sound and dialogue film.
In a separately filmed trailer, Vitaphone production reel #3130, George Arliss speaks to the audience about the film.