The movie was adapted by Franco Brusati, Maestro D'Amico and Franco Zeffirelli, and directed by Zeffirelli.
It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Picture.
The film is noted as being one of the first versions of the play in which the main actors are near to the ages of the characters. Whiting was eighteen during filming, and Hussey was seventeen.