While released in the United States by NBC as a 4-hour television miniseries, Paramount later had the film re-edited into a 2-hour feature for international theatrical release.
Robert Mitchum was originally cast as Juan Domingo Perón but walked out after having considerable difficulty with Faye Dunaway ordering him around on the set.
Rita Moreno's character, Renata Riguel, is based on the famous Argentinian actress/singer Libertad Lamarque, who was rumored to have been at war with the real Eva Perón back when the latter pursued an acting career in the early-to-mid-1940s. Lamarque later went into self-imposed exile in Mexico after Eva became the First Lady of Argentina in 1945.
Several of the extras were American medical students attending the Autonomous University of Guadalajara (filmed in Guadalajara, Mexico).