Alec Guinness' speech to Parliament, in the role of Benjamin Disraeli, is delivered in an unbroken, single take of nearly seven minutes of impassioned dialogue.
Alec Guinness visited the House of Commons to research nineteenth-century parliamentary etiquette. The Father of the House (the oldest serving MP) refused to help him as the film was for Fox and that "I have an interest in the Rank Organization".
Alec Guinness (Benjamin Disraeli) and Andrew Ray (Wheeler) both played Herbert Pocket in adaptations of Charles Dickens' 1861 novel "Great Expectations": Guinness in Les grandes espérances (1946) and Ray in Great Expectations (1974).
The British and American versions of this movie are quite different. The British version, viewed by the AFI Catalogue staff, reports a running time of one hour and thirty-four minutes, while the American version, shown on AMC television, ran one hour and thirty-nine minutes. The following crew credits do not appear in the American version: Margaret Furse (Costume Designer), David Aylott (Make-up Artist), Frank Bevis (Production Manager), R.E. Dearing and Fred Fox (Production Supervisors), Bluey Hill (Assistant Director), Eric Wood (Sound Editor), Denys N. Coop (Camera Operator), and Cyril Hartman (Historical Advisor). The credit for W. Percy Day (Special Effects) does appear in the American version, but apparently, not in the British version. There are also cast differences: Irene Dunne's name alone appears above the title, with Sir Alec Guinness listed first below the title (contrary to his contract requiring him to have co-star billing). Also missing are Edward Rigby (The Watchman) and Ronan O'Casey (Slattery) who are credited in the British version. These two, however, are in the cast list in the New York Times 1951 review, which usually reports only credited cast.