Giuliano Montaldo in a recent interview declared that the first shot of the Gian Maria Volontè monologue was cut, even if perfect, because one of the smaller players started crying due to the convincing performance.
This co-production was the final film for the Italian production company Jolly Film.
The French producers desperately wanted Yves Montand for the role of Nicola Sacco, according to director Giuliano Montaldo.
Producer Dino De Laurentiis had tried to set up a version in the early 60's with director Richard Fleischer after they had worked on " Barabbas ". The project failed to materialise and Fleischer sued De Laurentiis for loss of earnings. They would eventually put this behind them , and Fleischer would make " Mandingo " in 1975 with him again, and " Amityville 3-D", " Red Sonja " and " Million Dollar Mystery".
Italian censorship visa # 57836 delivered on 11 March 1971.