John and Mary, based on Mervyn Jones’s 1966 novel of the same name, was originally slated to be shot in London, England, where the novel is set. According to a 29 Jan 1969 Var article, director Anthony Harvey was the first to option screen rights, and later paired with producer Ben Kadish. Two sets of writing teams made failed attempts at adapting the script before John Mortimer was hired. Kadish eventually took over the film option from Anthony Harvey, who was later replaced by Peter Yates, as reported in a 5 Nov 1968 LAT item. In the meantime, Warren Beatty and then girl friend Julie Christie considered starring as “John” and “Mary.” Since the film was without a director at that time, Beatty suggested Jack Clayton, but Clayton had to pass on the project because his mother was ill. Beatty and Christie withdrew their interest, and Kadish subsequently decided to move the setting to New York City. Peter Yates was later quoted in a 28 Dec 1969 LAT article, stating that the location was changed to avoid the recently popularized cliché of “swinging London.” According to the 14 Dec 1969 LAT review, the final film did not adhere closely to Jones’s novel.
       Mia Farrow’s casting was announced in the 16 Oct 1968 DV. Dustin Hoffman’s agreement to co-star was finalized one month later, the 20 Nov 1968 DV stated. During filming, Hoffman appeared in nightly performances of the stage play, Jimmy Shine, which ran from 5 Dec 1968 to 26 Apr 1969 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway.
       Principal photography began on 27 Jan 1969, according to the 29 Jan 1969 Var. The picture was budgeted at $3.5 million according to a 4 Jan 1969 NYT article, and was shot in New York City. By the end of the year, the 9 Dec 1969 NYT declared it had been a record year for film production there with forty-five major motion pictures shot in the past twelve months. Although the article claimed John and Mary was filmed entirely in NY, a 21 Apr 1969 DV item reported that the final five days of shooting began that day in the Bahamas.
       Interiors, including that of “John’s” apartment, were filmed at Biograph Studios in the Bronx, NY. As noted in various contemporary sources including the 23 Feb 1969 LAT and 5 May 1969 NYT, location shooting took place at Maxwell’s Plum singles bar; the Fillmore East concert venue; a church in Greenwich Village; Bloomingdale’s department store; Beekman Place in Midtown East; photographer Milton H. Greene’s studio; a set of tennis courts on Riverside Drive; John F. Kennedy International Airport; Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood; “an unheated, untenanted brownstone on East 31st Street” which stood in for “Mary’s” apartment; and Barbizon Plaza, where a political rally was staged. Although Yates stated in the 4 Jan 1969 NYT that he would avoid filming New York clichés, such as the Empire State Building and Central Park, a 26 Feb 1969 Var brief stated that the shooting schedule had been altered to take advantage of snowfall, and a scene between Farrow and Hoffman was slated to be filmed in the snow in Central Park.
       A news brief in the 18 Dec 1968 Var noted that Johanna Grant would serve as publicity coordinator; a 3 Mar 1969 DV item stated that AFI student Richard Basch would act as Peter Yates’s intern; and the 29 Jul 1969 DV reported that June Foray would record voices for the picture.
       French singer Claudine Longet was reportedly sought to record the title song but was unavailable, the 29 Oct 1969DV reported. Decca Records released a “single disk” titled “John and Mary,” featuring an instrumental song with “heavy breathing.” As a gimmick, Decca released the record with a tag warning, “This record is rated ‘X’ – suggested for mature audiences.” The risqué song was said to be aimed at “the FM and ‘underground’ stations rather than the AM outlets.”
       The film opened on 14 Dec 1969 to lackluster reviews. In the 4 Jan 1970 NYT, it was named by film critic Vincent Canby as one of the ten worst pictures of 1969. Likewise, a 2 May 1970 LAT article noted that The Harvard Lampoon named it one of the ten worst movies of the year. An 8 Apr 1970 Var box-office chart listed the film as the twenty-second highest grossing picture that week (in a select 20-24 markets) with a cumulative gross of $2,224,869 in thirteen weeks of release.
       Actress Tyne Daly made her feature film debut in John and Mary.