Following a quarrel with William Wyler, Bette Davis embarked on an affair with Henry Fonda that greatly increased tensions on the set. After a phone call from Fonda's pregnant wife, she called things off.
According to Robert Osborne, Julie's red dress was actually bronze colored, because bronze showed up better on black and white film than red would.
Bette Davis came to the realization that William Wyler was a very special director when he insisted she come view the dailies with him, something she had never done with any other director before. They watched a scene where her character was coming down a staircase, a scene that had really irritated Davis, as she couldn't understand why Wyler decided to film it over 30 times. Watching the rushes, however, she saw one of the takes in which he had captured a fleeting devil-may-care expression that summed up her character perfectly. After that, she happily accepted however many takes Wyler wanted.
Bette Davis allegedly took 45 takes to perfect the scene where she lifts her riding skirt with her crop.
The rumors that Henry Fonda and William Wyler didn't get on were not true. While Fonda found Wyler's diligent style too slow and sedate, he was nevertheless impressed with the results Wyler was getting from his cast and crew. Fonda's main reason for agitation was because he wanted to be in New York for the imminent birth of his daughter, Jane Fonda.