Martin Sheen, who plays Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, went on to play American President John F. Kennedy in the mini-series Kennedy (1983).
Originally shot on videotape, and first shown in this format, but when it was sold to local stations, it was transferred to film.
The title is a reference to the book "The Guns of August" by Barbara Tuchman, which had greatly impressed President John F. Kennedy and from which he drew inspiration in dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis.
William Devane plays John F. Kennedy, and Martin Sheen played a member of his Cabinet. In the television series The West Wing (1999), this was the reverse, with Sheen playing the American President, and Devane portraying a member of his Cabinet.
Then-US Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, is not a character featured in this film. His character does appear Thirteen Days (2000), a theatrical film about the same incident.