The film stars three real-life married acting couples. They were couple Geraldine Page and Rip Torn ; couple Anne Jackson and Eli Wallach ; and couple Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller.
The film features three Oscar (Academy Award) winners - Glenda Jackson, Geraldine Page and Sandy Dennis - and three Oscar (Academy Award) nominees - Melina Mercouri, Edith Evans and Rip Torn.
This film's source novel and this resultant feature film are considered to be allegories for the mid-1970s Watergate scandal. Eight of the main characters are representative of the Watergate conspirators and various cabinet members of the Nixon Administration of President Nixon.
Even though the film was made in England and is based on a novel set in England, the action now takes place in America. The character of "Sister Geraldine", based on Gerald Ford, does not appear in the novel, which was written prior to Ford's brief ascendancy.