Gene Kelly said of working on this film: "I couldn't see myself declining the opportunity to work with Liv Ullmann, an enchanting actress. I wanted to work in a film with that wonderful actress and that was enough". About playing a smaller supporting role rather than a leading part, Kelly said: "That's not the point. It's good material and it's time we in Hollywood got away from this pretentious business of labeling the appearance of a star in a small part as a cameo, as if excusing it".
In the billiards scene, all of the action around the pool table was shot in either close-up or medium-shot to emphasize the fact that Deborah Raffin was making her own shots without the assistance of a double. In a bravura technical display, Raffin actually calls each shot before pocketing it, clearing the table without co-star Edward Albert ever getting a chance to shoot.
The picture was a critical failure and commercial flop at the international box-office.
Responsibility for the film's failure was placed largely on the shoulders of its leading lady, Liv Ullmann, who is visibly uneasy with both light comedy and the flippant use of English called for in the script. As a result, the majority of critics and audiences felt she was miscast. Ullmann would suffer a similar fate that same year with Lost Horizon (1973).
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