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In August 1972 a 2773.06-meter (101:05) 35mm film print of this film was banned by the Australian Film Censorship Board. This decision was made on the orders of Don Chipp, who was the Minister for Custom and Excise. Following their win at the December 1972 election, the Labor government soon reconsidered the ban. On the orders of the the new Attorney-General, Lionel Murphy, the 35mm film print of the film was resubmitted to the AFCB. The same 2773.06-meter (101:05) 35mm print was finally passed by the AFCB on March 1, 1973, with an M-rating (Mature Audiences). In both cases the applicant was MGM BEF Film Distributors Pty Ltd.
Charlton Heston reportedly took the lead role so that MGM would allow him to use footage from Ben-Hur (1959) for his directorial debut, Antony and Cleopatra (1972).
Charlton Heston tells in his biography that director John Guillermin was a very effective filmmaker but also liked to humiliate actors from time to time.