Working titles included The Anzio Landing, The Landing at Anzio, The Battle for Anzio, and The Battle of Anzio. In Italy, the picture was released under the title Lo sbarco di Anzio.
       A 23 Jul 1965 DV article referred to the picture as The Anzio Landing when listing it as one of producer Dino De Laurentiis’s slate of twenty pictures scheduled for release in 1965 and 1966. Italian director Duilio Coletti was said to be “prepping” the film in Rome, Italy, near the town of Anzio, Italy, where the action is set, as stated in a 23 Mar 1966 Var brief. However, the 11 Apr 1966 DV indicated that De Laurentiis was considering shooting in Spain and had sought logistical cooperation from Spanish authorities.
       By early summer 1966, Columbia Pictures was on board to co-produce with De Laurentiis, as announced in a 5 Jun 1966 NYT item, which stated that Duilio Coletti would write and direct the $3-million production. Columbia provided the financing in its entirety, or at least several million dollars, as indicated in the 11 Oct 1967 Var. The following year, a 2 May 1967 LAT brief named Edward Dmytryk as the director, and noted that Robert Mitchum had been cast in a leading role. The project marked a re-teaming of Dmytryk and Mitchum, who had previously collaborated on Till the End of Time (1946, see entry) and Crossfire (1947, see entry). Despite the hiring of Dmytryk, Duilio Coletti stayed on as second-unit director, according to the 28 Jun 1967 Var.
       Principal photography commenced on 29 May 1967, as noted in a 2 Jun 1967 DV production chart. Location shooting took place in the Italian cities of Anzio, Taranto, and Rome. Taranto sequences entailed a beach landing scene, according to the 21 Jun 1967 Var, and a crowd scene shot at the Colosseum involved 3,000 background actors and was described in the 1 Oct 1967 LAT as “the biggest scene ever shot in Rome.” Filmmakers received support from the Italian government which, according to a 17 Apr 1968 Var item, was rare at that time. Italian authorities were said to have provided “a quiet naval contribution.”
       Columbia initially planned to release Anzio as a “roadshow” attraction with reserved seating. However, an item in the 20 Mar 1968 Var reported that the studio now intended to distribute the picture as a general wide release. Publicity included an advertisement on a thirty-foot billboard located at Yankee Stadium’s center field. As stated in a 24 Apr 1968 DV brief, the billboard advertisement marked the “first time a film company has used such an ad medium.”
       Due to the picture’s status as an American-Italian co-production, Edward Dmytryk was denied directorial credit for “nationality reasons” on the Italian version. The 30 Aug 1967 Var noted that Dmytryk would receive “a film by” credit on Italian release prints, instead.
       Samuel Marx was identified as a producer in the 24 Aug 1966 issues of LAT and Var, and as a writer-producer in the 4 Jan 1967 Var. The 12 Apr 1968 DV stated that Marty Paich was set to arrange and conduct the title song, “This World Is Yours. DV items published on 28 Sep 1966, 6 Jun 1967, and 14 Aug 1967 listed Henry Silva, the Scots Guards Band, and Elizabeth Thompson as cast members. More Less