Jean-Marie Patte, an office clerk moonlighting as an amateur actor, had terrible difficulty memorizing his lines, and had to read from cue cards in most of his scenes. Roberto Rossellini believed that Patte's awkward, unrehearsed nervousness mirrored that of Louis as he takes on the responsibilities of kingship.
This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #456.
The maxim of La Rochefoucauld (" Neither the sun nor death can be looked at directly") cited by the King was previously quoted by Rossellini admirer Jean-Luc Godard in his episode, La Paresse ,from the compilation film The Seven Deadly Sins (1962.)
Louisiana was named after him.
The title character (Louis XIV) doesn't appear until 20 minutes into this 94-minute movie.