Michael Ritchie developed the concept for this picture about a young American director coping with the cultural differences he encounters for the first time on the European film festival circuit after his friend and fellow filmmaker George Lucas told him about his experiences of screening his debut theatrical feature film 'THX 1138' (1971) in the Directors' Fortnight strand at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1971.
Screenwriters Don Petersen and Walter Bernstein started to develop the characters of Hal Raymond and Maria Barone, who were cast with actor Keith Carradine and actress Monica Vitti respectively, after the latter had been cast as the female lead. The screenwriters developed the characters based on the personalities of the two stars.
Actor Keith Carradine agreed to star in the picture without a completed screenplay.
Acting debut in an American theatrical feature film of Italian actor Christian de Sica who played Carlo Barone. He is a son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica.