At the time of filming, those at Fox were not aware that the real Anna Anderson was still alive. After this came to their attention, they flew to her home in Germany and asked permission to use her name. It should be noted that, in the film, the full name "Anna Anderson" is never used, although "Mrs. Anderson" is briefly employed as an incognito in the later stages of the story.
This movie was based on the story of Anna Anderson, a woman who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia. It was later discovered that, in fact, she was not who she claimed to be; the mystery was solved through DNA examination of a small piece of tissue cut from Anna in an operation years before.
This film marked Ingrid Bergman's Hollywood comeback, after being effectively blacklisted in 1949 for having an affair with director Roberto Rossellini and having a child out of wedlock.
Anna Anderson's handwriting was pronounced identical with Anastasia's and medical experts found 17 points of similarity between her ear and the real Anastasia's. However, after her death it was discovered that her DNA did not match that of England's Prince Philip, a blood relative of the Romanovs.
After the remains of the Romanov family were discovered at Ekaterinburg in 1991, only nine of the 11 bodies were found--the Grand Duchess Anastasia and her brother, Czarevich Aleksey Nikolaeyvitch Romanov, remained missing, further clouding the question of her fate. However, it was announced that the DNA and other forensic evidence from the remains determined that Anastasia was indeed among the nine bodies that were unearthed from the pit in the forest outside of Ekaterinburg, and that the missing bodies were those of Alexei and one of his other sisters, the Grand Duchess Marie. After all examinations were completed, the remains of the nine individuals were transferred to St. Petersburg and ceremoniously interred at the Fortress Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. The two remaining bodies were believed to have been discovered in 2007 and are fairly certain to be those of the Czarevich Aleksey and the Grand Duchess Maria. When all examinations are completed and the results are announced, those remains, too, will be transferred to St. Petersburg for burial with the other members of the family.