 The film was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Kwee Tek Hoay, which had been published over several instalments in "Panorama" in 1927; this story had later been adapted as a stage play by the Union Dalia Opera.At the time, sound films had been shown in the Dutch East Indies for several years, beginning with "Fox Movietone Follies of 1929" and "The Rainbow Man" (both 1929).The Dutch film director G. Kruger had released "Karnadi Anemer Bangkong" the year before; although that film has been credited as the first talkie, the sinologist Leo Suryadinata gives "Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang" as the colony's first talkie.