One of the only two purely dramatic roles of Totò, after Yvonne la Nuit (1949). In other movies he had some partially dramatic roles but always mixed up with comedic elements: Totò e i re di Roma (1952), Cops and Robbers (1951), One of Those (1953), Of Life and Love (1954), The Gold of Naples (1954), Siamo uomini o caporali (1955), Il coraggio (1955), Totò e Marcellino (1958). After this movie he starred in other two partially dramatic roles directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Hawks and the Sparrows (1966) and Caprice Italian Style (1968).
When producers proposed the role to Totò, he imposed the condition that the screenplay should have been written by Rodolfo Sonego, a screenwriter he appreciated and who usually worked with Alberto Sordi.
The cast originally included also Vittorio Gassman and Franco Interlenghi, but they then left the project before filming began.
Filming required a particularly long time, in part due to the low financial resources and in part due to the theatre background of some actors, who weren't familiar with cinematographic times. In addition to this, Totò was practically blind at time of filming: thus, he wasn't able to dub himself and they had to film in sync sound, in a time when it wasn't as practical as nowadays.