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The movie overall follows the story and spirit of the novel, with some notable differences:
- The last two chapters are omitted: the death of Don Fabrizio 21 years after the ball; the life of three elderly Salina sisters in San Lorenzo (the palace we first see), another 27 years afterwards. Naturally, many other events are discarded because of length, as well as the chapter about Father Pirrone.
- Conversely, the movie includes a few scenes absent from the novel: the long battle in the city at the beginning; the roadblock on the way to Donnafugata just afterwards; the dialogue between Angelica, Concetta and Tancredi during the ball; the shooting of deserters at the end.
- Chronology is sometimes altered. Some of the novel's flashbacks are integrated into present timeline: the soldier's body at the beginning, the plebiscite. On the other hand, some sequences are cut by other scenes: the hunting party, by Fabrizio reading Tancredi's letter and Ciccio describing Angelica's mother; Angelica and Tancredi roaming the palace, by Chevalley's visit.
- Characters are slightly different. Angelica and Tancredi seem truly in love (long shots on gazes and embraces, romantic music), whilst in the novel they are partly motivated by greed (Angelica wants an aristocratic name, Tancredi needs money). Don Fabrizio appears to be more sympathetic than he is in the novel, probably thanks to Burt Lancaster's charm. At the ball, colonel Pallavicino is less ridiculous in the novel, and Don Fabrizio does not have an argument with him.
Director Luchino Visconti was disappointed that the producers of the film insisted on casting Burt Lancaster in the lead role, because he felt he was not right for the part. This caused tension between the two during the first few weeks of filming. Visconti's harsh treatment toward Lancaster eventually led to the actor publicly confronting him on the set. Visconti was so impressed with the passion and sincerity that Lancaster displayed during his tirade that the two developed a close and amicable relationship for the rest of the filming process.
The hundreds of candles in these scenes had to be replaced frequently. They are the ostensible light source but the Technicolor film speeds and movie camera lenses of the early 1960s were too slow for interiors like this to be properly lit without additional lights. So a lighting rig had to be put above the chandeliers. The breakthrough film for the use of natural lighting in interiors was Barry Lyndon (1975), which used a very fast Zeiss lens developed for space satellite photography. The heat of the lights rapidly melted the candles, so filming had to be interrupted while they were replaced. Also, the white gloves worn by all the guests became stained with sweat and Visconti insisted that they should also be replaced. A laundry room was set up nearby for this purpose.
Luchino Visconti wanted to cast Nikolay Cherkasov as Prince Salina (apparently, he saw the Russian actor in Sergei Eisenstein's movies Ivan il terribile (1944) and Alessandro Nevsky (1938)). However, Cherkassov refused for unknown reasons. Burt Lancaster later told film critic Roger Ebert, "They wanted a Russian, but he was too old. They wanted [Laurence Olivier], but he was too busy. When I was suggested, Visconti said, 'Oh, no! A cowboy!' But I had just finished Vincitori e vinti (1961), which he saw, and he needed $3 million, which 20th Century-Fox would give them if they used an American star, and so the inevitable occurred. And it turned out to be a wonderful marriage".
Burt Lancaster impressed the originally skeptical Luchino Visconti by letting it be known that he had read the book and was lobbying for the part. Fox asked Visconti to choose from among Anthony Quinn, Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck, and Lancaster. Visconti made up his mind after seeing Vincitori e vinti (1961). Lancaster later appeared in Visconti's Gruppo di famiglia in un interno (1974).
According to Claudia Cardinale, the period corset she wore during filming was so narrow that Burt Lancaster could encircle her waist with his large hands, and that it was so constricting that it bruised her flesh so badly that she showed Luchino Visconti, presumably to gain his sympathy for the pain she endured to make herself credible in the role.
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By what name was Il gattopardo (1963) officially released in India in English?
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