The film was initially rejected for UK cinema and only passed in 1963 after 14 minutes of cuts with heavy edits to the animal killings, scenes showing German drug addicts, and the killing of a man by a bull.
The film opens with an advisory to the viewer, which differs slightly from what the narrator is saying. It reads: "All the scenes you will see in this film are true and are taken only from life. If often they are shocking, it is because there are many shocking things in this world. Besides, the duty of the chronicler is not to sweeten the truth but to report it objectively."
On March 13, 1961, following some shooting of the documentary in Las Vegas, writer-directors Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti and the film crew traveled to Los Angeles. One car contained Cavara, Jacopetti and Jacopetti's paramour, actress Belinda Lee (who was not in the picture), in addition to their Italian driver. Nearing San Bernardino on US 91, the speeding car lost control on a winding road and flipped after blowing a tire. Actress Lee, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the car and died at the scene of a broken neck and fractured skull. The others escaped serious injury and taken to a Barstow hospital. Jacopetti suffered a broken leg.
Mentioned in Christopher Hitchens' book "God is not Great", for the cargo cults.