The normally overweight Rainer Werner Fassbinder dieted strenuously to lose weight in order to play the role of Fox, which included a full-frontal nude scene.
Inspired by the films of Douglas Sirk. Sirk had this to say of Fassbinder: "There is a certain kind of artist--the reckless genius. He just shrugs all setbacks off, he is so ultimately convinced that he is bound to succeed. Now Fassbinder has that. I'm not necessarily saying he's a genius--but I personally think he is--but he has that kind of confidence in his own talent. And in Germany, he needs it."
This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #851.
Numbered, on the initial credits, as "Tango Film Produktion fünf ein halb", that is: "Tango film production five and a half".