During the filming of "Countess" in 1966 at Pinewood Studios, the 77 year old Chaplin was walking around outside discussing ideas when his foot got caught in a grate and he broke his ankle. It was the first serious injury that he ever sustained.
It was the first film by Chaplin to be not only in widescreen (which he disliked - see A King in New York (1957)) but in colour as well.
At the premiere in 1967 in London, the film being shown before had been using a special spherical lens. The projectionist had forgotten to take it off for the 35mm "Countess". The result was a distorted spherical image.
The critics instantly blamed it on Chaplin's tired directing techniques. This was obviously not the case, but the film still did badly at the box office and Chaplin himself went into deep depression.
Charles Chaplin's final acting appearance is in a cameo as an old steward. Since nearly all of the characters he portrayed in films prior to the 1940s were not identified by name, it is appropriate that his final character also be nameless.
The only feature film by Charles Chaplin to be funded by a major studio, Universal. Also, Chaplin had the largest budget of all his films on this film, $2 Million.
The role of Ogden Mears was offered to 'Rex Harrison' who turned it down. Brando assumed the role and spent much of the film disagreeing with Chaplin.
Although some literary sources claim the film was shot in the anamorphic CinemaScope process with the aspect ratio of 2,35:1, the lack of a CinemaScope logo or credit in titles and promotional material such as posters and the total lack of anamorphic compression artifacts in the print indicate that the film was shot in spherical 1,85:1 hard matte format. Widescreen DVDs of the film have also been presented in 1,85:1 aspect ratio.
The film was shortened by approximately 15 minutes since its premiere. In an interview, Chaplin said he felt the shortened version (which is the version currently available on home video and DVD) almost did not feel like his film and that he preferred the longer version.
Charles Chaplin originally conceived the idea for this movie 30 years previously (and was titled "Stowaway"), as a starring vehicle for his then-wife Paulette Goddard.
Patrick Cargill was only cast as Hudson only after a number of big-name UK performers had passed on the role.
