Tinto Brass only ever wanted actress Stefania Sandrelli for the role of Teresa Rolfe and waited until she was at the right age for the part.
Stefania Sandrelli once said of this movie: "I like to play all parts. If I have to be nude, I have to be nude. But I never have the impression of being naked on the set. Yes, I was a little afraid of this film at first. The script shocked me - and amused me because the subject is nothing but sex. Nothing else is discussed in the film."
This movie is actually a remake. It had been made before as Alucinação Sensual (1959) about twenty-four years earlier and directed by respected Japanese director Kon Ichikawa. The movies are both adaptations of the 1956 Japanese novel "Kagi" by Jun'ichirô Tanizaki. "Kagi" has also been filmed a number of other times - See: Kagi (1974) and Kagi (1997) whilst another Japanese version, Kagi (1983), was also released in the same 1983 year as this movie. This picture is actually the third version of the book and was released before Kagi (1983).
Tinto Brass had made a number of attempts to obtain the film rights to the novel "Kagi" by Jun'ichirô Tanizaki. Brass was eventually successful in acquiring them from Tanizaki's widow.
Director Tinto Brass went to London to find a British actor to play the part of the husband, Nino Rolfe. Brass cast British actor Frank Finlay after seeing him play Antonio Salieri in Peter Hall's stage production of 'Amadeus' at the Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End.