The film that Maria and Diego stand watching at the cinema is King Vidor's Duelo al sol (1946), an equal lurid tale of wayward passion.
One of the films that Diego Montes is masturbating to in the Opening Sequence is Mario Bava's Seis mujeres para el asesino (1964).
Pedro Almodóvar said the opening sex scene between Assumpta Serna and Jesús Ruyman was unsimulated. In Serna's biography by Nuria Vidal, the actress recalled that at the end of the sequence, Almodovar came to her side and said, "Thank you for your generosity."
First film in Pedro Almodóvar's career that tackles the world of bullfighting (the second being Hable con ella (2002), although to a lesser degree).