Anecdotes

In the film, Dolores Hart plays an aristocratic woman who becomes a nun. In reality, Hart left Hollywood to become a nun in 1963. She remains an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and is the only nun who votes for the Oscars.

In conjunction with the release of the feature, 20th Century Fox offered exhibitors a 10 minute promotional short subject, Hills of Assisi, in which actor Bradford Dillman acted as a tour guide, showing viewers the medieval forts and monasteries in the picturesque area where aspiring friar Francis lived.

In a September 2008 interview with Barbara Middleton in The Catholic Exchange, Dolores Hart (who at the time of the interview had long since left Hollywood to become a nun) recalled how her experience filming this movie had an effect on her life's path: "[The filming of] St. Francis of Assisi...took me to Rome. I met Pope John XXIII and he was very instrumental in helping me form my ideas about a vocation. When I was introduced to the Pope, I said, 'I am Dolores Hart, the actress playing Clara.' He said, 'NO, you are Clara!' ('Tu sei Chiara'- in Italian). Thinking he had misunderstood me, I said, 'No, I am Dolores Hart, an actress portraying Clara.' Pope John XXIII looked me square in the eye and stated, 'NO. You are Clara! His statement stayed with me and rang in my ears many times."

Bradford Dillman as the soldier Francis carries a shield with the initials "SPQR", which is the ancient symbol meaning "The Senate and the People of Rome."

Due to his love of nature and animals, shown in this film by such incidents as the cheetahs in the Sahara, Francis was proclaimed the Patron Saint of Ecology by Pope John Paul II in 1976.