"Battle of Angels", the original version of Tennesse Williams play "Orpheus Descending" that the movie is based on, flopped in Boston in 1940 and did not make it to Broadway. The 1957 Broadway production of the reworked play, starring Cliff Robertson and Maureen Stapleton as Val and Lady Torrance, also was a flop. It wasn't until the 1989 revival starring Vanessa Redgrave as Lady Torrance that the play was a success on Broadway.
Marlon Brando became the first actor to be paid $1 million for a single film when he signed on to appear in the screen-adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "Orpheus Descending". Nearing the end of her contract with MGM, Elizabeth Taylor had earlier signed a $1 million contract with 20th Century-Fox to appear in 'Cleopatra' (1960), breaking that salary threshold in Hollywood.
Anna Magnani originally lobbied to have her then current lover, Anthony Franciosa, cast opposite her, but producers didn't consider him a big enough box-office draw.
Tennessee Williams wrote the play with both Marlon Brando and Anna Magnani in mind, but neither wanted to do the theatrical version.
Although set in an unnamed small town in the American south, most of the exteriors for this film were actually shot in Milton, New York, a small town on the Hudson River, approximately 40 miles from New York City. This was done to accommodate director Sidney Lumet, who did not want to shoot outside his Manhattan home.
Anna Magnani was hot to sleep with co-star Marlon Brando, but he did not find her attactive. The tension that was created between the two co-stars did not help the film but subtracted from it, as her failure at conquest made Magnani unhappy. Tennessee Williams was angry with Brando, convinced that he was deliberately slurring his dialogue to punish Magnani, who did not speak English. Magnani was playing the role phonetically and had trouble picking up her cues from Brando.
Of the cast of the 1957 Broadway production, Maureen Stapleton and R.G. Armstrong made the transition to the screen. While Armstrong reprised his role as Sheriff Talbott, Stapleton took the supporting role of Vee Talbot. Interestingly, Stapleton also was the original Serafina in Williams' "The Rose Tattoo," a role that also was played by Magnani on-screen.