Reyna Belasco Rosenthal's vintage photo albums were the inspiration for this feature film. The albums contain more than 400 photographs of the Belasco family from 1895-1916. Over 250 of which are of their 14 visits to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition alone. The albums are part of R. Christian Anderson's personal collection of historic artifacts. Additional historic images and films were gathered from private collections and archives to fully tell the story of the exposition.
This film is dedicated to Michael John Robert Gill (1928-1991), who was a close friend of director R. Christian Anderson for over 18 years. It was Michael who first took Christian to see the Palace of Fine Arts, the last surviving building of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and told him the story of the fair.
Reyna Belasco Rosenthal (1895-1976) was the niece of famed Broadway playwright and producer David Belasco. Her father was David's brother Solomon Belasco. She was one of several female members of the Belasco family named after their grandmother Reyna.
The photo album actress Beverly Washburn looks through in the opening scene actually belonged to Reyna Belasco Rosenthal.
In the opening scene of the film, Reyna is shown looking out of her window towards the area where the Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in 1915. In 1965, the historic Reyna Belasco Rosenthal actually lived at the Park Merced Apartments, just south of San Francisco.