Actor Jack Lemmon waived his usual fee and worked for scale plus a percentage of the gross. Scale was US $165 a week at the time.
Jack Lemmon was in Europe filming Avanti, Avanti! (1972) for director Billy Wilder when this film was edited and scored. A print was flown to show Lemmon and he invited Wilder to see it. Afterwards, Lemmon asked for Wilder's opinion. Wilder advised one change, cut out the scene in the film where Lemmon's character visits his mistress early in the story. Wilder felt it slowed down the momentum of the story. The scene was cut, the picture was released to box office success and Lemmon won a second Oscar.
Jack Lemmon admitted to having had a serious drinking problem at one time, which is one reason he looks back on his Oscar-winning role as Harry Stoner in Rettet den Tiger (1973) as perhaps the most gratifying, emotionally fulfilling performance of his career.
Star Jack Lemmon was being touted as an Oscar candidate even before the film was released. On April 4th, Lemmon became the first performer in history to win both a "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actor" Academy Award (for Rettet den Tiger (1973) and Keine Zeit für Heldentum (1955) respectively).
This motion picture was filmed in sequence.