In his memoir "The Ragman's Son" Kirk Douglas recounted that John Wayne attended a screening of the film, and was horrified. "Christ, Kirk! How can you play a part like that? There's so few of us left. We got to play strong, tough characters. Not those weak queers," Wayne said. Douglas tried to explain, "It's all make-believe, John. It isn't real. You're not really John Wayne, you know." Wayne (born Marion Morrison) looked at him oddly, as if Douglas had betrayed him.
Many of the locations used for filming were the actual locations Vincent van Gogh visited in his life.
MGM originally bought the film as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy.
Even though many sources claim that Anthony Quinn won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for appearing a short 8 minutes in the movie, his performance actually lasts 22 minutes and 40 seconds.
The color process used for the film (Ansco Color, but labeled in the credits as Metrocolor) was unsuitable for long term color preservation. As a result, revival prints lost the extraordinary brightness and range of the movie's original images, and began to turn beet red. Luckily, the original colors have now been properly restored in the DVD edition.
As a matter of course, MGM made three black and white color separations from the monopack negative. Because the black and white images, which provide color values relative to one another, cannot fade, it was relatively easy to restore the film's color to its original brilliance, the only problem being different shrinkage rate between the three b&w separations.
As a matter of course, MGM made three black and white color separations from the monopack negative. Because the black and white images, which provide color values relative to one another, cannot fade, it was relatively easy to restore the film's color to its original brilliance, the only problem being different shrinkage rate between the three b&w separations.