Frank Sinatra was the first choice to play Rod Anderson. When Darryl F. Zanuck balked at his salary demand, Robert Mitchum agreed to play the role at no fee for tax purposes.
The $211,586,000.79 that Louisa wants to donate to the United States government in 1964 would be equivalent to more than $2.1 billion in 2025.
Shirley MacLaine is quoted as saying she was happy to work with Edith Head, with a $500,000.00 budget, 72 hairstyles to match the gowns, and $3.5-million gem collection, on-loan from Harry Winston. The value of the gems, adjusted for inflation, would be over $35 million in 2025.
The set used as Luisa and Pinky Benson's Hollywood mansion was originally used as the home for the characters played by Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin's in the unfinished 1962 Twentieth Century-Fox film "Something's Got To Give", which was modeled on director George Cukor's private Hollywood home.
When Elizabeth Taylor was still attached to the project (then titled "I Love Louisa"), actors seeking to play her husbands included Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis--none of whom appeared in the final film.