The 24 Aug 1966 Var announced that producer-director Stanley Kramer had acquired screen rights to Robert Crichton’s recently published novel, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, after frenzied bidding from other parties. Kramer paid $275,000 plus a fee for Crichton’s services as a technical advisor, according to the 21 Sep 1966 Var. Additional money was promised to Crichton if television rights were sold, and Kramer agreed to spend $25,000 to advertise the novel at the time of the film’s release, a figure that publisher Simon & Schuster was obligated to match. Paperback rights to the best-selling book were later acquired by Dell Publishing for $500,000, as reported in the 23 Nov 1966 Var, which also stated that Ladies Home Journal planned to print a segment of Crichton’s work in its Jan 1967 issue.
       At least two major sequences in the novel were omitted from the screenplay, due to time constraints, according to an 11 Aug 1968 LAT article: a three-day wedding feast held in a cave, and a “bacchanalian wine festival.” Also, while the character of “Babbaluche” is killed in the novel, he remains alive in the film.
       The Secret of Santa Vittoria was set to be Kramer’s last in a six-picture deal with United Artists (UA), the 14 Sep 1966 Var noted. Kramer was quoted in a 9 Jan 1969 DV brief as saying that he first offered the role of “Italo Bombolini” to Spencer Tracy, with whom he was working on Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967, see entry), but Tracy declined, claiming his Italian accent was “lousy,” and recommended Anthony Quinn, instead. Quinn’s casting was confirmed in a 10 Aug 1967 LAT news brief. With Quinn on board, Kramer approached Max von Sydow to co-star, as stated in the 6 Dec 1967 Var. However, von Sydow’s participation was said to depend on the success of his upcoming production of Match Play, slated to open on Broadway in Mar 1968. Meanwhile, Quinn decided his character should be large and set about gaining thirty pounds for the role, the 26 Oct 1969 LAT reported.
       Italian actress Anna Magnani, who was cast opposite Quinn, had previously performed with him in 1958’s Wild Is the Wind (see entry). Magnani, who had a reputation for being tempestuous, reportedly arrived on the set of The Secret of Santa Vittoria “with a team of Italian writers,” hoping to convince Kramer to enhance her role, as stated in a 30 Aug 1968 LAT article. However, Kramer refused and Magnani backed down. The director and actress continued to have a strained relationship, according an interview with Kramer in the 19 Oct 1969 LAT, which stated that the actress had refused to be shot in profile and had sometimes declined to work for no reason.
       Production aides scouted over 150 villages before selecting the town of Anticoli Corrado, Italy, to stand in for Santa Vittoria, which was found to be too modernized and posed unpredictable weather conditions. The 26 Jun 1968 Var noted that, as an overture to Anticoli Corrado’s 1,200 inhabitants, Kramer arranged a gathering at the town square to address locals on “working together.” Filmmakers eventually ran into problems with some residents obstructing filming sites until they were paid off, the 18 Feb 1969 LAT reported. In addition, one man registered a song with the same melody as a local “nursery song” used in a bottle-passing scene, forcing Kramer to buy the rights to the newly copyrighted tune. The town was not altered heavily by the art department, although a bell steeple, a building façade, an archway, a water tower, and a statue of a turtle on a fountain were added. The 28 Aug 1968 Var stated that Anticoli Corrado would benefit from some improvements made by filmmakers, including upgrades to its electrical wiring system. Location fees were said to have been earmarked by local authorities for restoration of a church.
       Principal photography began on 17 Jun 1968, according to a 21 Jun 1968 DV production chart. The 26 Jun 1968 Var indicated that Kramer planned to capture only “direct sound,” thus necessitating English lessons for the Italian actors. Principal cast members Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi, Renato Rascel, Giancarlo Giannini, and Patrizia Valturri were said to have spent months working with dialogue coaches before shooting began. The picture was cited in a 23 Oct 1968 Var brief as “the first major film to use direct sound in Italy.”
       Following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy on 6 Jun 1968, Italian crewmembers wrote Kramer a letter, offering to work an extra hour the following Saturday, 8 Jun 1968, in Kennedy’s honor. Kramer was moved by the gesture and stated that it had “no parallel in motion picture history.”
       The eighty-nine day production schedule was set to conclude with four weeks of filming at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, Italy. Shooting ended on 15 Oct 1968, as stated in the 23 Oct 1968 Var, and a final production cost of $6 million was cited in the 9 Jan 1969 DV.
       Prior to filming, a promotional tie-in was established with the Italian company, Cinzano, which provided most of the 200,000 bottles of wine seen in the film, as noted in an 11 Aug 1968 LAT article, which called the picture “the longest and costliest ($5 million plus) ad for a trade name ever attempted by a commercial studio.” The 1 May 1968 Var noted that cross-promotions would include Cinzano sample giveaways at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.
       A benefit premiere was scheduled to take place on 17 Oct 1969 at the Westwood Village Theatre in Westwood, CA. As noted in the 11 Jun 1969 Var, the picture was also slated to be the opening night attraction at the San Francisco International Film Festival on 23 Oct 1969. To coincide with theatrical release, the 23 Jul 1969 Var indicated that Dell would issue its paperback version of the Crichton novel, with cover art showing scenes from the film.
       Following mixed reviews, The Secret of Santa Vittoria went on to gross $2.7 million in film rentals by early 1971, according to a 6 Jan 1971 Var chart. It won a Golden Globe award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and received Academy Award nominations for Film Editing and Music (Original Score—for a motion picture [not a musical]). Golden Globe award nominations also went to Anthony Quinn for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy; Ernest Gold for Best Original Score – Motion Picture and Best Original Song – Motion Picture (“Stay”); Stanley Kramer for Best Director – Motion Picture; and Anna Magnani for Actress in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy.
       The picture was rated “M” by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the 3 Sep 1969 DV reported.
       An item in the 24 Apr 1968 Var stated that Charles Painter served as unit publicist.