This movie was the subject of one of two U.S. Supreme Court cases that led to the establishment of the MPAA Ratings Code. Upon the U.S. release of this "Viva Maria," the movie classification board of the city of Dallas, Texas, banned the movie within the city on the grounds that it was too racy. The American distributor sued - case title: "Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas (1968) - and, on 22 April 1968, won. In its ruling, the Supreme Court stated that censorship aimed at minors was okay, but censorship could not be applied to adults.
On the same day, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in a second case, titled "Ginsberg v. New York (1968)," which established that 17 years of age constituted adulthood in cases of censorship. The case involved a New York City luncheonette owner named Sam Ginsberg who was caught selling a "Playboy" magazine to a 16 year old in a NYPD sting operation. The Supreme Court ruled that if the boy had been 17 years old, then Ginsberg would have done no wrong in selling him the magazine.
By combining these two rulings, the Supreme Court established the precedent that adult-oriented movies were acceptable as long as "no one under 17 is admitted without parent or adult guardian."
"Breaking the fourth wall" dialogue when "Maria II" (Jeanne Moreau) is descending the stairs as "Flores" is being carried ahead of her, she begins what is later said to be "a rather free adaptation" of Mark Antony's funeral oration over Caesar's body from Shakespeare, in Act III, Scene 2 of Julius Caesar. As she begins, someone in the crowd asks "What's she up to?" And the magician "Diogène" says "This is her big scene."
Maria (Brigitte Bardot) mistakenly identifies a Skyton-Babbit Model 1907 Machine Gun as a Vickers Machine Gun. However it really is a Vickers Mark1 Machine Gun. The Skyton-Babbit Machine Gun is a fictional name.
Jeanne Moreau starred in four films directed by Louis Malle: "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958), "The Lovers" (1958), "The Fire Within" (1963), and "Viva Maria!" (1965).