Writer and director, Hall Bartlett, said that he expected the saintly "Charles Ingalls" to show up for this picture in Michael Landon, and instead, he "got a 'camera-hogger' who used vulgar language".
According to an interview in the Italian publication "Io Emanuelle," director Hall Bartlett insisted that actress Laura Gemser use a pseudonym because of her background in erotic movies since this was a family film. She reluctantly accepted the name "Moira Chen." Bartlett apparently forbade the cast and crew from calling Gemser "Laura," so she was dubbed "Rosalie." But Gemser said that people and the media quickly realized who she really was and spread the word, which she found funny but it infuriated the director and producers.
Writer and director Hall Bartlett said that Michael Landon mocked Priscilla Presley for spending too much time on her hair. Landon was known for making the talk show rounds mocking different co-stars, including Lorne Greene, for wearing a hairpiece. Meanwhile, Landon wore 4" lifts in his shoes.
Michael Landon was widely felt to be too old to play John Everingham.