Director Norman Jewison was fined by the actors' union for not allowing his actors to go to lunch until they perfected the moods of their characters for the climax scene in the kitchen.
Norman Jewison has stated that the climactic kitchen sequence was the most difficult scene that he ever shot in his career. The crew were dismissed and Jewison rehearsed with the cast for some time, using a stage production approach. Only after the actors perfected their timing did he decide where to put the camera.
According to casting director Howard Feuer, both Anne Bancroft and Maureen Stapleton had been considered for the role of Cher's mother, but their fees were too expensive for the production budget. Feuer remembered Olympia Dukakis, a character actress known for years to most in casting; she read for director Norman Jewison and he hired her instantly.
The opening title sequence was originally played on the score from "La bohème" opera but was changed to the Dean Martin track "That's Amore" because the preview drew negative test audience reaction. Many shifted uncomfortably on their seats, thinking that they had been lured into an art film.
Catherine Scorsese, Charles Scorsese: Martin Scorsese's parents are customers in the bakery. They appear occasionally in some of Martin's films. (Cabo do Medo (1991), Os Bons Companheiros (1990) for example).