The movie had a difficult time getting shown in England. When the movie was first submitted to the British movie review board, it was rejected because it appeared that Queen Elizabeth II was acting in the movie. Producer Samuel Z. Arkoff managed to get the board's approval by adding a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie stating that the Royal Family had not participated in the making of the movie and that Queen Elizabeth's appearance was done using newsreel footage. Then English distributor EMI, which was the distributor of Arkoff's movies in England, stated to the press that that they were "a defender of the palace" and refused to handle the movie. The J. Arthur Rank Organisation, the other major movie distributor in England, also joined the boycott for the same reason. Ultimately, the movie only played in a few theaters in England.
Theatrical movie debut of Sir Patrick Stewart (Tilney). This movie was released in July, and Hedda (1975), in which he has a far larger role, was released in December in the US (although it did not reach Britain, where it was made, until the following year).
It was initially announced that Rod Steiger would be playing dual roles, an MP in the British Parliament, and his brother, a member of the I.R.A.
Rod Steiger invited Patrick Stewart to lunch to help put Stewart at ease after learning that this was Stewart's first film.
Lee Remick agreed to play her supporting role as it reunited her with co-star Rod Steiger and co-writer John Gay from their earlier film, Le Refroidisseur de dames (1968).