The film was made and released about twenty-five years after its source novel of the same name by Morris West had been first published in 1960 and about twenty-eight years after the book had been first written by West in 1957.
Prior to this picture, the movie's source novel "The Naked Country" by Morris West had been optioned many times, but never made.
The weather, conditions and temperature during principal photography varied between extremely hot & humid, and dry & dusty.