The film starred Elizabeth Taylor and Van Johnson in his last role for MGM, with Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed, Eva Gabor, KurtKasznar, George Dolenz, SandyDescher, Odette, and (a then-unknown) Roger Moore in his Hollywood debut. The film's title song, by composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, was already a classic when the movie was made and inspired the movie's title.Though the song had already won an Oscar after its film debut in 1941's Lady Be Good, it is featured much more prominently in The Last Time I Saw Paris. It can be heard in many scenes, either being sung by Odette or being played as an instrumental.
The film was released in 1954; however, there was an error with the Roman numerals in the copyright notice showing "MCMXLIV" (1944), meaning the term of copyright started 10 years before the film was released. Thus, the normal 28-year copyrightterm ended just 18 years after the film was released, and MGM neglected to renew it presumably because they believed there was still 10 years left in the term. The film entered the public domain in the United States in 1972.
