Patrick Cargill was cast as Hudson only after a number of big-name UK performers had passed on the role.
Sophia Loren didn't get along with Marlon Brando during the shooting especially after the day they were doing a love scene and he commented, "Did you know you have hairs up your nostrils?".
Petula Clark had a major hit with her recording of "This is My Song", an adaptation of a piece of music Charles Chaplin wrote for this film. Chaplin reportedly did not care for Clark's version, though it ultimately turned out to be the only successful aspect of the film, reaching #1 in the British charts. Just months later Harry Secombe took the song to #2 in Britain.
Charles Chaplin originally conceived the idea for this movie 30 years previously (and was titled "Stowaway"), as a starring vehicle for his then-wife Paulette Goddard.
Charles Chaplin's final acting appearance is in a cameo as an old steward. Since nearly all of the characters he portrayed in films prior to the 1940s were not identified by name, it is appropriate that his final character also be nameless.
Norma Foster, Penelope Horner and Juliet Harmer were all considered for the role of The Young Society girl.
Although some literary sources claim the film was shot in the anamorphic CinemaScope process with the aspect ratio of 2,35:1, the lack of a CinemaScope logo or credit in titles and promotional material such as posters and the total lack of anamorphic compression artifacts in the print indicate that the film was shot in spherical 1,85:1 hard matte format. Widescreen DVDs of the film have also been presented in 1,85:1 aspect ratio.
At the premiere in 1967 in London, the film that had been shown just previously had been projected using a special spherical lens. The projectionist had forgotten to take it off for this film. The result was a distorted spherical image. Many critics instantly blamed it on Charles Chaplin's "tired" directing techniques. This was obviously not the case, but the film did badly at the box office and Chaplin himself went into deep depression.
Chaplin wanted Al Jolson to record the theme song "This Is My Song", and only accepted that Jolson died in 1950 when shown a picture of his grave. The song, with Chaplin's old-fashioned lyrics, proved difficult to record, with Petula Clark very reluctant, and Harry Secombe dissolving into giggles when he tried to sing the words.
During filming in 1966 at England's Pinewood Studios, the 77-year-old Charles Chaplin was walking around outside discussing ideas when his foot got caught in a grate and he broke his ankle. It was the first serious injury he ever sustained.
It was the first film by Charles Chaplin to be not only in widescreen (which he disliked - see A King in New York) but in color as well.
Last film directed by Charles Chaplin.
The film was shortened by approximately 15 minutes since its premiere. In an interview, Charles Chaplin said he felt the shortened version (which is the version currently available on home video and DVD) almost did not feel like his film and that he preferred the longer one.
The only feature film by Charles Chaplin to be funded by a major studio, Universal. Also, he had the largest budget of all his films, $2 million.
The role of Ogden Mears was offered to Rex Harrison, who turned it down. Marlon Brando took the role and spent much of the film clashing with Charles Chaplin.
This was Charles Chaplin's final film, although in his early-1970s memoir, "My Life in Pictures", he mentions plans to film a movie entitled "The Freak", starring his daughter, Victoria Chaplin. The film was ultimately never made but costume test photos exist.
While Marlon Brando had always greatly admired Charles Chaplin's work and looked upon him as "probably the most talented man the movie medium has ever produced," the two superstars didn't get along during the shooting. In his autobiography, Brando described Chaplin as "probably the most sadistic man I'd ever met." Chaplin, on his side, said that working with Brando simply was "impossible".