The film stars Gian Maria Volonté as Vanzetti, Riccardo Cucciolla as Sacco, Cyril Cusack as prosecutor Frederick G. Katzmann, Geoffrey Keen as presiding justice Webster Thayer, Milo O'Shea as defense attorney Fred Moore, with Rosanna Fratello, William Prince, and Sergio Fantoni. The musical score was composed and conducted by Ennio Morricone with the three-part ballad sung by Joan Baez. The film is mainly shot in colour although it both starts and finishes in black and white, and also includes period black and white newsreels.