Estelle Helmsley, who plays the Greek grandmother, was actually an African-American actress.
Kazan began shooting in Istanbul, but was concerned that Turkish officials would object to some of the material content and moved his base of production to Greece.
Kazan speaks the credits at the end but omits voicing his own name.
Of all the films he had directed, this one was Elia Kazan's favorite film, as it was very personal to him.