Trivia

Frederic Raphael wrote the screenplay for this movie in 1967, two years before it was made, and was paid a fee of $210,000, in those days about £75,000. This made him the highest-paid screenwriter in British movies. His fee was so large that the budget could not afford anything like as much for a director. Michael Winner was considered, but his then-standard fee of $75,000 (about £26,500) was too large for the producers to be able to afford him.

There was considerable difficulty in finding a director for this movie. The movie was actually shot in the Spring of 1969, but it was not until early 1971 that it was seen in its native Britain.

In Iris Murdoch's source novel, the character Palmer Anderson (played by Sir Richard Attenborough) is American.

At one point, Anouk Aimée was considered for a leading role in this movie.

Producer Elliott Kastner's ideal cast included Dame Elizabeth Taylor as Antonia Lynch-Gibbon, Marlon Brando as Palmer Anderson, Richard Burton as Martin Lynch-Gibbon, and Julie Christie as Georgie Hands.