Production was halted for weeks after Walter Matthau had a heart attack. He had slimmed from 190 to 160 pounds by the time filming was completed and wore a heavy black coat to conceal the weight loss.
This was director Billy Wilder's second film in a row in which one of his lead actors suffered a heart attack. In his preceding film, Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), Peter Sellers' health problem forced Wilder to replace him with Ray Walston. In this film, Walter Matthau suffered his attack midway through production, but shooting was postponed until he recovered. His drastic weight loss from scene to scene is noticeable.
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau bonded early in the production process, finding a connection in their mutual love of football. They would remain friends the rest of their lives.
Marked the first pairing of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, who subsequently worked together on 11 additional films (including Kotch (1971), in which Lemmon directed Matthau).
This is the first film on which Billy Wilder and Walter Matthau worked together, though Matthau was Wilder's first choice for the part in The Seven Year Itch (1955) that was played by Tom Ewell.
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