Legendary female wrestler Mildred Burke, along with two of her pupils (who appear in the first match while the credits roll), trained the two leads for several weeks. After intensive work, Laurene Landon and Vicki Frederick were able to perform the wrestling action without doubles.
Final film of director Robert Aldrich. After this picture wrapped, Aldrich had surgery which ended in fatal kidney failure. Aldrich had been planning a sequel.
At the time of initial release, in the US, the film was considered a box office flop, but did reasonably well abroad. The film was originally planned as being the first part of a 2-picture story, with the sequel to be predominantly centred - and shot - in Japan, but due to the death of Robert Aldrich, this never happened.
The picture's title was changed from "...All The Marbles" to "The California Dolls" for overseas release because the phrase is an American idiom, not well-known elsewhere.
The film's wrestling match finale runs for twenty minutes, and was staged at the MGM, in Reno, Nevada. Even though the film was an MGM (film studio) release, contrary to common misperception, the two businesses are not (nor were they ever) connected. Previous studio owner, Kirk Kerkorian used the studio's name and applied it to his already-established gaming business.
Joe Greene: Former Pittsburgh Steeler, Joe Greene (aka, 'mean Joe'), who had retired the year this film was made.