Trivia

Screenwriter "Esther Dale" is a pseudonym for Elaine May. May did not want her real name to be credited when she wasn't directing. So, for this reason alone, she decided to use this pseudonym. She was rather annoyed with director Otto Preminger for revealing her identity when promoting the film, although he praised her work.

The original novel by Lois Gould was much more serious in tone; many of the barbed, humorous lines of the film are missing entirely from the book. Otto Preminger saw the satirical potential in such a premise and had it written as such.

Preminger was signed to a seven-picture deal with Paramount, perhaps the most lucrative director/studio contract up to that time. The deal fizzled directly after this movie's release, the fourth picture in that deal.

Otto Preminger originally considered offering the leading role of "Julie" to Barbra Streisand. He was very dissatisfied with Dyan Cannon, his eventual choice, whom he (and others) described as arrogant, condescending towards colleagues and habitually late. She, on the other hand, told many interviewers that Preminger had behaved monstrously towards her.

To prep his writers for the type of approach he wanted in this film, Otto Preminger screened Diario de una esposa desesperada (1970) for Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne at a Paramount screening room (with son 'Erik Preminger' and wife Hope).