Director Henri-Georges Clouzot couldn't finish this movie. First main actor Serge Reggiani suffered from illness and Jean-Louis Trintignant got the role (also left in 5 days without making a single screen test), but then Clouzot had a heart attack. The project was stopped.
In 1992 Clouzot's widow sold the script to Claude Chabrol who made the movie as Hell (1994). In 2005, Clouzot's widow disclosed the original raw footage publicly, which led to the reconstruction of this unfinished great movie and telling of the story of its making in a "film about film" Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (2009).
Romy Schneider was great friends with Catherine Allégret's mother, Simone Signoret. Schneider was known for her striking resemblance to Signoret.
Mario David who had a role in this film also has a role in the remake Hell (1994), directed by Claude Chabrol.
Catherine Allégret's debut.