Trivia / The World of Henry Orient

• Box Office Bomb: Budget - $2 million. Box Office - $2.1 million.
• Creator Backlash: While screenwriter Nunnally Johnson liked the movie overall, and George Roy Hill's direction of it, he thought Peter Sellers played the role too broadly, and would have preferred Rex Harrison in the role (see What Could Have Been below).
• Irony as She Is Cast: When Henry asks Valerie's mother if she ever sang or appeared on stage, she tells him no. In reality, Angela Lansbury was well-known for her stage work, and she also sang in musicals such as Beauty and the Beast and A Little Night Music.
• Reality Subtext: Peter Sellers was actually being stalked by a fan during the making of this film.
• Romance on the Set: According to Tippy Walker, she and George Roy Hill had an affair while making the movie, despite the fact she was 17 and he was 44.
• What Could Have Been: Nunnally Johnson (who adapted his daughter's novel) originally had Patty Duke and Hayley Mills as Val and Marianne.
  • Rex Harrison was offered the role of Henry Orient, though he turned it down.

---