Errol Flynn was a friend of John Barrymore's in Hollywood during the time frame depicted in the film.
Warner Bros. purchased the book the film is based on with the intention of starring Carroll Baker (then under contract) in an adaptation. After she declined on the grounds that she did not want to play a nymphomaniac, they refused to lend her to an outside company to appear in The Devil's Disciple (1959) opposite Sir Laurence Olivier.
A friend of John Barrymore's in real life, Errol Flynn participated in one of the more macabre farewell tributes in Hollywood history. As Barrymore lay in his coffin awaiting burial, Flynn and several friends "borrowed" Barrymore's corpse and took him out for one final drink with his closest friends. The body was then sneaked back into the coffin, and the funeral home proceeded with his last rites as planned.