As noted in the Var review, the opening sequence is projected in a 1:1.33 aspect ratio, which was the industry standard before the advent of widescreen processes such as CinemaScope in the early 1950s. The opening credits appear against a satin cloth background framed in black, over the recording, “You’ll Never Know,” as sung by Alice Faye in the 1943 Twentieth Century-Fox film, Hello, Frisco, Hello (see entry). After the credits, the action begins with a scene set in the 1940s that is vermillion-tinted to suggest dream-like memories. That sequence, which was shot on a set and has the look of an old movie, depicts the title character, “Alice Hyatt” at the age of eight, vowing to become a singer when she grows up. The film then continues with the story in the present. At the end of the film, Alice, who never reaches her intended destination of Monterey, CA, walks with her son “Tommy” (Alfred Lutter) along a road toward a sign marking the “Monterey Dining Room.” A mix of standard tunes and contemporary rock songs are heard throughout the movie’s soundtrack. An excerpt featuring Betty Grable in the 1943 Twentieth Century-Fox film, Coney Island (see entry), as well as an excerpt featuring the comedian and television talk host, Johnny Carson, appear in the film.
       According to a 17 Feb 1975 LAT article, around 1973 John Calley, who was then president of Warner Bros., sent a screenplay by Robert Getchell to actress Ellen Burstyn. Although other producers and performers had rejected the script that was described by one producer as being “too much like a TV soap opera,” Burstyn liked it because of its women-centered theme. An 8 May 1975 LAT article reported that Burstyn bought the story. According to the Feb 1975 LAT article, the studio financed the film for $2.1 million, and Burstyn was cast in the title role. The LAT article and a Time article also dated 17 Feb 1975, reported that Calley and producer David Susskind allowed Burstyn to choose her own director and gave her final script approval. Burstyn, who was sensitive to the under-representation of women in the film industry, asked that qualified women be hired for prominent crew positions. Among the women hired for key jobs were producer Audrey Maas, associate producer Sandra Weintraub, film editor Marcia Lucas, art director Toby Carr Rafelson and script supervisor Julie Pitkanen. For director, Burstyn chose Martin Scorsese, who had recently directed Mean Streets (see entry), and who, according to the LAT article, was suggested to her by Francis Ford Coppola. In the article, Burstyn stated that Scorsese admitted that he lacked experience in directing films about women’s issues but was open and, in her words, “wanted to participate in the consciousness of 1975.”
       The 17 Feb 1975 LAT article reported that Scorsese and Burstyn improvised on the script, and made a videotape of Burstyn portraying Alice twenty years in the future. With the aid of producers Weintraub and Larry Cohen, they used the tape to restructure scenes and suggest dialogue, then sent the material to Getchell, who rewrote the script, adding his own improvements. Burstyn got some ideas for the depiction of the relationship of Alice and Tommy from conversations with her own, then thirteen-year-old son, Jefferson Burstyn. According to the Feb 1975 LAT article, a scene in which Tommy asks Alice about her sex life was based on a real conversation. In the Feb 1975 LAT article, Burstyn also admits that the scene in which “Ben Eberhart” (Harvey Keitel) turns violent was based on a real life incident. According to the article, actress Diane Ladd, who portrays “Flo,” also improvised dialog for the script.
       Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore marked the feature film debut of Getchell and of thirteen-year-old Lutter, who had previously made a few television appearances. The film marked one of the earliest film appearances of Ladd’s daughter, actress Laura Dern, as a little girl eating ice cream. The 17 Feb 1975 Time article reported that Burstyn's son Jefferson appears in the film in a brief role as the neighbor’s son. HR production charts, the Box review and the film's production charts state that the picture was shot in Tucson, AZ. Modern sources add that portions of the film were shot in Phoenix and Amado, AZ and in New Mexico.
       While Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore was described in the MPD as an attempt to “rejuvenate” the woman's picture of thirty years ago, critic Pauline Kael’s New Yorker review called the film an “angry-young-woman movie,” comparing it to Great Britain's “angry young men” films of the 1950s. The reviews were generally favorable, but as noted by the Chicago Sun-Times review, the picture was simultaneously praised and criticized for its depiction of feminist issues.” Although the HR review described the film as a “compassionate, contemporary movie” that expressed the dilemmas of women living without men, a 16 Jul 1978 NYT essay stated that the film was “troubling for some feminists” who would rather see Alice succeed without a man. The SatRev reviewer stated that the film’s story ran “counter to current liberationist preferences” by presenting the “prevalent female stereotype” and did not “advance the cause.” The reviewer felt that Alice had made no progress and by the end of the film had “only changed her place of residence.”
       Although the film did not open nationally until 1975, according to the 27 Jan 1975 New York review, the film opened in Los Angeles in Dec 1974 in order to get Academy Award eligibility. For her performance in the film, Burstyn won an Academy Award for Best Actress, and Ladd and Getchell were nominated for Awards for Actress in a Supporting Role and Writing (Original Screenplay), respectively. Burstyn also received a nomination for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture—Drama, and Ladd for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. Getchell was also nominated for a WGA Award for Drama Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Scorsese was nominated for a Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm. The movie inspired a television spin-off, entitled Alice, which aired on the CBS network 1976—1985 and starred Linda Lavin as Alice Hyatt, Polly Holliday as “Flo” and Vic Tayback, who reprised his film role as “Mel.” Lutter reprised his role as Tommy Hyatt in the pilot episode. A few years into the run of the series, Ladd was added to the cast as a new character, “Belle,” to replace Holliday, who left the series to star in another spin-off series called Flo.