Director/screenwriter Milos Forman got the idea for the movie when he met a young girl with a suitcase in the streets of Prague. Her story was very similar to the one in the film.
There are a number of cuts of this film, and it is impossible to know which one you are buying. The version in theatrical release in the US contained a sequence wherein Milda, the pianist, is tricked by a girl into climbing through a window into the bedroom of another couple, thinking he'll find her waiting for him. A version on videotape available in the US for many years cuts that sequence. The Czech DVD available now cuts that sequence and also cuts a sequence in which Milda tries to teach self-defense methods to Andulka in his room when they first meet in Zruc.
Film debut of Milada Jezková, who portrays Milda's mother. Director Milos Forman and his co-writers were riding a bus and discussing ideas when Jezková overheard them and started to laugh. They fell for her charisma and asked if she wanted to be in the movie.
Film debut of actress Hana Brejchová, who has the lead role of Andula. She is the younger sister of actress Jana Brejchová, who was married to Milos Forman, this movie's director, from 1958 to 1962.
Czechoslovakia's official submission to 39th Academy Award's Foreign Language in 1967.