In May '62, while filming, Jeanne Moreau suffered a slight nervous breakdown due to the stifling atmosphere of the film.
"The Trial" is based on the Franz Kafka novel of the same name. Orson Welles also includes a shorter Kafka parable, "Before the Law," in the pin-screen opening to the movie.
Orson Welles reportedly dubbed a few lines of Anthony Perkins dialog. Perkins later said he could never figure out which lines they were.
When the film came out, Orson Welles called this his best movie. Later, he picked "Chimes at Midnight (1965)."