Vivien Leigh was subject to bouts of depression and alcoholism and was abrasive to fellow actors. There was a rocky start to her relationship with Lee Marvin, complaining about his stale alcohol breath. Eventually, the two became highly unlikely good friends.
Oskar Werner received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role despite being fifth billed in the movie.
Director Stanley Kramer carefully photographed Vivien Leigh in a gentle soft focus throughout the film, leading up to her climactic Charleston sequence, which he then shot in a cold, unforgiving sharp focus.
When Lee Marvin was first approached to play Bill Tenny, he turned it down based on his sense that Katherine Anne Porter's source novel was too high-brow for his acting style. But director Stanley Kramer argued that, after many years of toiling as a heavy in supporting roles, Marvin's career was on the descent, and that he would have to begin diversifying if he was going to become a bankable star. Marvin was convinced, and not only did he successfully make the transition, but he ultimately won the year's Best Actor Oscar, though not for this film.