Anecdotes

The movie was released on October 18th 1973, during Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab countries. That very day, Danielle Cravenne, wife of the film's publicist Georges Cravenne hijacked an Air France Boeing 727 to prevent the movie from being released, claiming that the movie was pro-Israeli. She boarded the plane at Orly airport in Paris and smuggled a 22 caliber carbine and a toy gun, and demanded that the plane (originally intended to land in Nice) be diverted to Cairo. The pilots convinced her to land in Marseille for refueling and upon landing she allowed the 110 passengers to leave the aircraft, keeping only the pilot and a crew member as hostages. After three hours of negotiations with the authorities, Cravenne asked for food to be delivered. Three members of the police's special forces team boarded the plane disguised as food servers and shot her in the head and chest. She died of her wounds on the way to the hospital.

The music and dancing were not authentic but specially made for the movie, though still inspired by traditional Hassidic music. Still, it has been readily adopted by the French Jew community, and can often be heard at Bar Mitzvah or Jewish weddings.

Louis de Funès admitted later in an interview that if any trace of racial prejudice remained in him, shooting this film helped him "clean his soul".

This film is known as the film with the most "gags" per minute.

The final scene was filmed at Les Invalides in Paris, which is in fact a military hospital and museum. You can even see the tomb of Napoleon, which is part of the complex in the background (It is the building with the dome). There is a chapel in the complex where people can get married.