According to the April 21, 1958, edition of Time Magazine, as an addendum to its cover story on Sir Alec Guinness, in 1957, Sir Laurence Olivier turned down a Hollywood offer of two hundred fifty thousand dollars for one movie. Instead of making the movie and pocketing the cash, Olivier preferred to take on the role of Archie Rice in this movie (a role written specifically for him) at the Princely sum of forty-five pounds sterling per week.
Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright met during the stage production of "The Entertainer". They were married in 1961 and remained married until Olivier's death in 1989.
The film takes place in November 1956.