Le folli avventure di Rabbi Jacob

The movie was released on October 18th 1973, during Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab countries. That very day, Danielle Cravenne, wife of the film's publicist Georges Cravenne hijacked an Air France Boeing 727 to prevent the movie from being released, claiming that the movie was pro-Israeli. She boarded the plane at Orly airport in Paris and smuggled a 22 caliber carbine and a toy gun, and demanded that the plane (originally intended to land in Nice) be diverted to Cairo. The pilots convinced her to land in Marseille for refueling and upon landing she allowed the 110 passengers to leave the aircraft, keeping only the pilot and a crew member as hostages. After three hours of negotiations with the authorities, Cravenne asked for food to be delivered. Three members of the police's special forces team boarded the plane disguised as food servers and shot her in the head and chest. She died of her wounds on the way to the hospital.

Fares and his thugs are not really speaking Arabic but mumbling something instead.

In the english dubbed version, the last line is changed From, "That's alright sir, we'll take you anyway" to "That's alright sir, nobody's Perfect". Then in the ending credits, they thank Billy Wilder for the last line, which is a steal from the last line from "Some Like It Hot".

Featured in Louis de Funès ou Le pouvoir de faire rire (2003)