Based on a true story, the movie was a thinly-disguised account of screenwriter Terence Rattigan's real-life friend Vivien Leigh's attempt to leave her husband Sir Laurence Olivier for Australian actor Peter Finch. Leigh and Finch made it to London's Heathrow Airport, but their plane was delayed by incoming fog, giving Olivier time to confront the two and escort Leigh home; after several hours of the fog delay, she had abandoned the plan.
Orson Welles is the sole American in the principal cast. However, he does not play an American, but a pompous Hungarian movie producer. Many reviews in 1963 suggested he was doing an outrageous parody of Sir Alexander Korda, but Welles, who greatly admired Korda (whom he called "an absolutely superb man"), was very annoyed by this claim and pointed out that his character bore a far closer resemblance to Gabriel Pascal.
Most of the jewelry Dame Elizabeth Taylor wore in this movie is from her personal collection. The diamond-and-emerald brooch is cited as her first "If it's Tuesday, I love you" gift from future husband Richard Burton. The diamond tiara worn during the opening credits dinner-party scene was a gift from third husband Mike Todd.
Producer Anatole de Grunwald wanted Sophia Loren to star, but Dame Elizabeth Taylor insisted that she would co-star opposite Richard Burton.