Jeanne Moreau and the other key actors filmed their scenes in both French and English. Two separate edits were made for the respective markets. The blu-ray/DVD released by the British Film Institute contains the English edit.
The film was shot on location in and around the tiny village of Le Rat, in the Corrèze département of central France. The entire production team stayed in what accommodation they could find locally for the duration of the shoot.
Tony Richardson originally wanted Marlon Brando for the male lead, but scheduling could not be arranged.
Voices for French actors being dubbed into English include (inevitably) Robert Rietty and David De Keyser, two of the busiest dubbing artists in Europe. More unusually, Frank Finlay dubs Gabriel Gobin in the role of the police sergeant, whilst Mark Dignam provides the English voice for the priest, played by Georges Douking.
Although he had already written and directed a famous short film, "Un Chant D'Amour", this was the first time Jean Genet had written an original screenplay for a feature film, something which was the subject of a great deal of publicity. However, it was alleged that director Tony Richardson had anonymously re-worked the screenplay somewhat before embarking on the film, with uncredited re-writing by the French critic and writer Michel Cournot and the English playwright David Rudkin.