'Phil Silvers (I)' was originally announced to play the Milton Berle role.
Paul Williams, 25 at the time this film was made, was concerned that his natural voice was too deep to play a preteen, and tried make his voice as high-pitched as he reasonably could.
Liberace's final movie.
Kim Stanley was originally announced to play role of the astronaut's stripper widow, a part that ultimately went to Barbara Nichols.
Anjanette Comer recalled that many well-known actresses wanted the part of Aimee, but Tony Richardson picked her precisely because he wanted an "unknown" for the part.
According to Robert Morse, director Tony Richardson held John Gielgud in great esteem, and before Gielgud arrived to film his scenes, took Morse aside and asked him to be particularly nice to him.
After WWII, Evelyn Waugh came to Hollywood to work on a movie adaptation of his novel "Brideshead Revisited". While in Hollywood he went to a funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Waugh was offended by the pretense of both the American film industry and the American funeral industry, and wove the two together into the novel on which this film was based.
American actor Robert Morse had such trouble keeping up his British accent that eventually all of his dialogue had to be recorded in a studio and dubbed over the film.
At the advance screening for studio execs, many were so offended that they walked out before the film ended. This pleased Tony Richardson to no end, as this was precisely the effect he was hoping to have on "old Hollywood" types.
Director of Photography Haskell Wexler was dissatisfied with some of the outdoor Whispering Glades scenes because they were being filmed at high noon and the trees were not casting significant shadows, which he felt was necessary to give the shot proper depth. To compensate, he had the crew paint tree "shadows" on the ground. This is plainly visible in some scenes, as the trees' "shadows" are entirely dissimilar from those of the actors standing next to them.
During the studio canteen scene between 'Robert Morse' and John Gielgud, an extra can be seen in the background wearing the monster mask from The Outer Limits episode "The Sixth Finger".
Sir Francis Hinsley drives a Talbot drophead coupé.
The news anchor at the end of the film was played by the beloved long-time Laker announcer Chick Hearn.
When Dennis first arrives in the U.S., the immigration officer points out his "Beatles" haircut, to which Dennis responds that it's a normal British haircut. In fact, Robert Morse recalled being uncomfortable with having to grow his hair out for the part, as the Beatles *were* the only male celebrities well-known in the U.S. whose hair was so long in the back.