Vittorio De Sica was a huge fan of Max Ophüls and wanted Jean Gabin's role in Le Plaisir (1952). Ophüls told him no, but that he would find him a dignifying role in another film. The role of the Baron was written with him in mind for this film.
Charles Boyer often fought with Max Ophüls about his character's motives. Ophüls one day during rehearsal broke down and said "Enough! His motives are he is written that way!" Boyer never asked him again and decided to play his character as being omnipotent in all his scenes.
Louise de Vilmorin chose to keep her characters nameless in order to match the style of Belle Époque authors, who employed the technique in order to make it seem as if their characters were based on real people. Max Ophüls decided to keep the characters surnames a secret in the film adaptation, because he felt that it created the suggestion that his characters could represent anybody from the story's milieu.
The film was reportedly the all time favorite of fellow director Stanley Kubrick.
Jean-Pierre Melville often frequented the set and was rumored to have directed the extras during the dancing sequence.