Ann-Margret was a brunette, as can be witnessed from her early album covers and her screen test footage from State Fair (1962). It was director Jose Ferrer who recommended that she dye her hair red during pre-production of this film. The finished effect was so dazzling that she adopted this shade from that point on.
This was Ann-Margret's very first feature film; it was shot before Pocketful of Miracles (1961), which is generally considered her debut because it was released before State Fair (1962) and thus trumpeted an 'introducing' credit for her in the main titles.
"All I Owe Ioway," a prominent Rodgers and Hammerstein song from the 1945 version, could not be incorporated in this remake since the locale had been transplanted from Iowa to Texas. Richard Rodgers provided both music and lyrics for an equivalent number, "It's the Little Things in Texas," sung by Alice Faye and Tom Ewell.
The film was originally slated to be shot in Todd-AO, the 65mm negative process from which 70mm prints would be struck for theatrical presentation (the extra five millimeters carried the magnetic six-track stereophonic soundtrack). Some test footage as well as a few exterior shots were filmed in 65mm, but the process was ultimately scrapped in favor of 35mm CinemaScope, likely for budgetary reasons. The 65mm material still exists in the Fox stock film library.
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