On Wednesday, July 29, 1964, Joan Crawford worked until 1:30 p.m. Crawford then informed Robert Aldrich that she had over-taxed herself the previous day and would have to return to a less strenuous shooting schedule to which Aldrich informed her that he wanted her examined by the company's insurance doctor. Resenting his suspicions and harassment, Joan, returning to her dressing room made it clear she would no longer talk directly to the director. "The only way they communicated was through me," said Crawford's makeup man, Monty Westmore. "Joan would tell me something, then I'd go and tell Aldrich. He would give me a reply to take back to Joan. It was an unpleasant, awkward position for me to be in."
Production was supposed to begin in April, but Joan Crawford had to attend a Pepsi sales convention in Hawaii that same month so production was postponed until May.
Song lyrics heard over the opening titles: "Chop chop, sweet Charlotte / Chop chop till he's dead / Chop chop, sweet Charlotte / Chop off his hand and head / To meet your lover you ran chop chop / Now everyone understands / Just why you went to meet your love chop chop / To chop off his head and hand."
The entire company was put up at the Belmont Motel (a mile outside Baton Rouge) and when Joan Crawford arrived at the the motel, her rooms had not been made up. She then had to sit for an hour in the motel's lobby and when she was finally put into a bungalow, it was next to the garbage disposal unit. That evening, when the company returned from filming, Joan complained to Bette Davis, "Oh, Joan. Pull yourself together. This is Baton Rouge, not Beverly Hills." Davis's bungalow was across Crawford's and was slightly larger and more luxurious.
The film was shot at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens, outside the towns of Darrow and Burnside, Louisiana (just south of Baton Rouge). The home and grounds are open to tours, and the tour guide points out several bits of trivia pertaining to the film on the tour, including the bedroom where Bette Davis slept while filming and the spot where her character pushes the potted vase onto Olivia de Havilland and Joseph Cotten.
Until his death in 1959, Joan Crawford had been married to Alfred Steele, the president of Pepsi-Cola. In an effort to spite her co-star, Bette Davis had a Coca-Cola vending machine installed on the set and gleefully posed for publicity photographs enjoying the beverage.
Weather and travel delays, as well as Joan Crawford's departure, forced director Robert Aldrich to cease location filming and move to a $200,000 replica of Houmas House at Fox Studio's Soundstage 6.
When Joan Crawford traveled to Baton Rouge, for the location shooting, she brought along with her, her maid, hairdresser and makeup man. However, when they arrived at the airport, there was no one from the company to greet them. There had been a mistake in the schedule and everyone was filming at the mansion. Somehow, Crawford's arrival was not relayed to the proper driver.
When Joan Crawford was in Baton Rouge and she came to film Miriam's arrival, there was no dialogue involved. Joan was to arrive at the mansion in a cab, exit, carrying a small case, pay the driver, and lowering her sunglasses, look up at the balcony of the house where Bette, in pigtails and a nightgown, was standing in the shadows, holding a shot gun. The scene was designed to be photographed in a wide continuous shot, and, thanks to Crawford's proficient technical skill, it was completed in one take. Later that evening, when publicist Harry Mines called on Bette in her motel bungalow, he found her standing in the middle of the room practicing Joan's scene. "My God!" said Bette. "I've been here all evening long with a pair of dark glasses and some luggage and I'm imagining getting out of a cab and trying to do that whole business in one gesture. How did she do it?"
When Olivia de Havilland agreed to make the film, Robert Aldrich called Bette Davis to give her the good news. He also requested she keep the news a secret until he returned in two days, when he would legally inform Joan Crawford and her lawyer by letter. However, Bette didn't listen, she called her press agent Rupert Allen, who immediately leaked the story to the press.
When Miriam Deering (Olivia de Havilland) is preparing to close up the house in anticipation of moving out, she is packing a box which is stenciled "Sam Strangis Storage & Transfer, Baton Rouge, LA.". Sam Strangis was the assistant director on this picture.