First movie to be encoded with a Dolby Stereo optical soundtrack.
The term Lisztomania was coined by the German romantic literary figure Heinrich Heine to describe the massive public response to Franz Liszt's virtuoso piano performances. At these performances, there were allegedly screaming women, and the audience sometimes was limited to standing room only.
When Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) changes into a dress at Princess Carolyn's (Sara Kestelman) command, he does so behind a screen with paintings of the "Saints of Music." These include portraits of Elvis Presley, Sir Elton John, and Pete Townshend, from the rock band The Who, of which Daltrey was the lead singer. Rumor has it that writer and director Ken Russell originally wanted Townshend to do the movie's music, but Townshend declined the offer, more than likely because he was exhausted from doing Tommy (1975).
DIRECTOR TRADEMARK (Ken Russell): (snake): The flames of Franz Liszt's (Roger Daltrey) piano turn Richard Wagner's (Paul Nicholas) sword into a snake.
Fiona Lewis said she hated Ken Russell. She called him a tyrant whose main objective in life was to destroy every woman he came across and to manipulate the actors instead of helping them during scenes.
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