Originally intended as a vehicle for Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Stuart Whitman.
This was Pat Boone's final film under his seven year contract with 20th Century-Fox. The studio had signed Boone in 1957, hoping he'd replicate the box office success of Elvis, but Boone's screen charisma, and his longevity as a box office draw, never equaled that of Elvis.
The title role was offered to Marilyn Monroe shortly before her death. She rejected it judging the role as "not feminine at all".
This was the first feature film Vincente Minnelli had made away from M-G-M in his entire career where he started in 1942, according to a contemporary article in the New York Times.