The French "arthouse" film that Don watches in this episode has not been definitively identified. According to series creator Matthew Weiner, "It's a very rare French film. A film by a famous director. I won't tell you the name. I won't say the title. I'll never tell. Because I don't have the rights to it."
The best clue to the film's identity is the poem we hear recited during the excerpt shown: "Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis" ("Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past"), written by medieval French poet Francois Villon.
January Jones came up with the line about her people being Nordic.
The title of this episode ("The Benefactor") is also the title of the controversial first-season episode of The Defenders that Harry tries to get the Belle Jolie cosmetics company to sponsor. The episode of The Defenders that discussed the issue of abortion aired on CBS on April 28, 1962. It was so controversial at the time that none of the regular sponsors for the series would advertise during its broadcast.
The three discussed weekly salaries of $300, $225, and $200 in 1962 had the same purchasing powers as $2,350, $1,760, and $1,560, respectively, in 2014.
The episode is named after the episode of The Defenders (1961) (The Benefactor (1962)) that is discussed during the episode.