The film helped to loosen film censorship, as Clarke and producer Lewis Allen had filed suit to be able to show the film in New York. (The film had premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1961.) In that era, in New York, the State's Department of Education had a vote on the State's film licensing board, and they voted to deny a license, mainly on the grounds that the word "shit" was used repeatedly during the film even though it was mostly used to refer to drugs.