Apart from the Norman (Tony Owen) and Rose (Carol Kane) central characters, most of the names of the main cast characters began with the letter ''M'' - Morris (Warren Mitchell), Mother (Myra de Groot), Michael (David Downer), and Maureen (Sandy Gore). Barry Otto's character though was called Charles.
First of two Australian theatrical feature films featuring American actress Carol Kane who would later do voice work on the Australian family adventure movie 'Napoleon' (1995).
Lead actress in this Jewish-Australian comedy was Carol Kane who had previously starred in the Jewish-American drama 'Hester Street' (1975) for which Kane had received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination. Kane did not win, losing to Louise Fletcher for 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975). 'Hester Street' (1975) was the breakthrough and first major film role of actress Carol Kane.
Actor Barry Otto and actress Sandy Gore have both appeared in three Australian feature films: 'Australia' (2008), 'Undercover' (1984), and 'Norman Loves Rose' (1982).
The film in 1982 was nominated for 4 AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards. These nominations were all in acting categories: Carol Kane for Best Actress in a Lead Role, Warren Mitchell for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and two noms for Best Supporting Actress - one each for actresses Sandy Gore and Myra De Groot. However, the movie failed to win a gong in any of these categories.