Over 30,000 extras appear.
Re-released by MGM in 1964 to pad its 40th-anniversary schedule.
The film made its debut on network television after having been shown for years on local television stations, as most films were prior to 1961.
The film represented a hollow victory for MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, since it turned out to be his final big-budget production. Produced for $7 million, it was MGM's largest grosser since Gone with the Wind, but Mayer was forced out of his job prior to its release.
The movie's huge box office success was credited with saving MGM from bankruptcy.
The narrator is an uncredited Walter Pidgeon.
There are 110 speaking parts in the film.
Elizabeth Taylor:
an extra