Additionally, end credits state: “Filmed on location in Nucourt and Villers-en-Arthies, France.”
       End credits also give the following acknowledgments: “The producers wish to thank: José Achaehe; Giles Ades; Tim Angle; Dana Bachrach; Gladys Berry; Maurice Bernart; Andree Bocca; Dominique Besnehard; Leon Brettler; Lee Breuert; Richard Brick; Charles Brill; Ian Calderon; Geoffrey Carey; Christian Charret; Brenda Curran; Pascale Daurman; Joel-Noel Dibie; Mark Dichter; Bernard Dormoy; Eugene O’Neal Center; Marie-Hélène Esteve; Ellen Flamin; Christian Fuin; William Gass; Charles Fox; Marjorie Glasser; Mr. & Mrs. Jean-Marc Gernigan; Gilbert de Goldschmidt;, Lynn Godmilow; Priscilla Guastavino; Peggy Gormly; Michael Hausman; John Hanson; Tom Johnson; The Independent Feature Project; Nancy Kemp; E. Ann Kaplan; Robert Kramer; Howard Klein; Jeanne Labune; Marcia Jean Kurtz; Gunther Langhard; Carole Lange; Jennifer Lawson; Steve Levine; Bryan Lourd; Robert Littman; Mr. & Mrs. Jean Mabille; Deborah Lucchesi; Ruth Maleczech; Jacques Madres; Paul Madison; Marie-Christine Malbert; Margaret Menegoz; Holly, Jack & Kim Massee; Ellen Novak; Catherine Meynial; Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Petry; Estelle Parsons; Sylvie Perin; Arthur Penn; George Pilzer; Eric Peter; Re-cher-chez Studio; David Preminger; Ruth Reiss; Robert Redford; Susan Rose; Fred Roos; Jean-Pierre & Maité; Jerome Rudes; Michelle Satter; Paul Ryan; Barbara Schulberg; Ruth Schnell; Elizabeth & Julian Serman; Screen Actors Guild; Chris & Lilyan Sievernich; Barbara Shapiro; Bertrand Tavernier; Britta Sjogren; Roberta Tross; Olivier Thaon; Sterling Vanwagenen; Rene Valleh; Daniel Vigne; Guillaume de Vergès; Valeria Wasilewski; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts; Victoria Westhead; Deborah Werbner.”
       Waiting for the Moon is a fictionalized account of several random days in the lives of author Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in 1936. The two women lived together for thirty-nine years until Stein’s death in 1946. The events depicted are complete fiction, based on Stein’s writings, not on historical facts. In fact, end credits state: “This is a fictional film inspired by the lives of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. The events depicted are not intended to be and should be accept as factual.” “We have taken great license,” producer Sandra Schulberg told the Dec 1986 Horizon magazine, calling the movie “an irreverent approach” that would “raise eyebrows.” For example, according to Skouras Pictures production notes on file at the AMPAS library, while Stein and Toklas knew writer Ernest Hemingway, there is no evidence that he stayed with them in 1936 or said any of the things he is depicted as saying to them. The couple knew artist Pablo Picasso and poet Guillaume Apollinaire, but the character of “Henry Hopper” is completely made up, as is “Baby Willi” the couple is shown adopting. In real life, Apollinaire died in 1919, but in the film, he is still alive in 1936. Picasso and his girlfriend, Fernande Olivier, ended their relationship before World War I, but they are depicted as still being a couple in the film. Similarly, time and ages have been shifted. In the movie, Toklas says she and Stein have been together for nineteen years, but in real life they had been together for twenty-nine years by 1936. In real-life, Stein was sixty-two in 1936, but in the movie, she appears to be in her early forties.
       The project was initially developed at actor Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute in Utah, which provided a loan to get the project started. Producer Sandra Schulberg raised $1 million with financing from the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in America, Channel Four in Great Britain, TV ART in West Germany, and the Société Francaise de Production in France, the 2 Sept 1986 HR reported.
       The film marked the first “American Playhouse” production intended for theatrical release before airing on PBS. “American Playhouse” executive producer Lindsay Law told the 16 Jul 1986 Var that they hoped to do six films per year for theatrical release. Other “American Playhouse” theatrical films in production included an adaptation of Richard Wright’s novel Native Son, the Montana-set family drama Stacking, the modern Western Leaving Cheyenne, and the gothic romance The Manchester Angel.
       Actress Linda Hunt was approached about playing Stein, but declined, saying she found the Toklas part more interesting. Hunt suggested British stage actress Linda Bassett for the part of Stein. Bassett made her screen debut in the role. Director Jill Godmilow made her big-screen debut with the movie as well.
       Principal photography got underway with the working title On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine on 7 Jul 1986, according to the 18 Jul 1986 DV production chart. It was a reference to one of Stein’s favorite songs. Promotional materials in AMPAS library files indicate the film had a strict five-week production schedule, with the majority of scenes filmed at a house in NuCourt, France, about thirty-five miles northwest of Paris. Multiple sets were built in the house and several exterior locations were created on the grounds. The 16 Aug 1986 Screen International noted that filming had wrapped the previous week.
       The 25 Jun 1986 HR announced that Skouras Pictures had acquired North American theatrical rights for the film.
       Waiting for the Moon had its premier on 21 Jan 1987 at the U.S. Film Festival in Park City, UT (later known as the Sundance Film Festival), which was connected to the Sundance Institute, where the project was developed. Although the film depicts the relationship between Stein and Toklas, the distributor would not allow it to screen at the annual Los Angeles International Gay and Lesbian Film and Video Festival (later known as “Outfest”). The 20 Feb 1987 LAT reported that Skouras Pictures did not want to “pigeonhole” the film. Jeff Lipsky, president of the motion picture division of Skouras Pictures, said it was purely a marketing decision since they were trying to position the film as appealing to a wider audience.
       Waiting for the Moon opened on two screens in New York City on 6 Mar 1987, taking in $17,340 in its first two weeks of release, according to the 25 Mar 1987 DV production chart, and gradually expanded to more theaters across the country throughout the spring.
       When the film aired on PBS on 15 Jun 1987, it was still playing in twenty theaters. The 19 Jun 1987 HR speculated that it may have been the first time a film aired on television while still in theaters. The film had grossed $677,521 to that point.
      End credits state “Developed in association with the Sundance Institute” and “Produced in association with American Playhouse, with funds from Public Television Stations, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The filmmakers also gratefully acknowledge support from the New York Foundation for the Arts and from Yolande Jurzykowski.”