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Toward the end of the series, Natalie becomes a mother, and the casting scouts found three babies to play the part of little Louis Henry in various locations. "The baby Louie who was supposed to be adorable looked at me and loathed me," says MacGraw, "and the baby Louie who was supposed to cry was always smiling. The third baby Louie was 30 lbs. heavier than the others." So that a real baby would not be endangered, MacGraw was finally provided with a baby Louie doll for the crowd scene in which she hears Mussolini declare war on the U.S. But Curtis com—plained that the doll did not move, as a real baby would. He proposed bundling up a small dog so that something would appear to be twitching in her arms. MacGraw refused. "There is no way," she told him, "that I can hold a dog, watch Mussolini, and fear for my life and child at the same time." Curtis saw her point and finally settled for the doll.
Director of Photography Charles Correll, describing the "storybook, romantic look" he and Curtis strived for, says, "It is kind of hazy in places." That is like saying that Niagara is kind of wet in places. Smoke is Curtis' signature. In scene after scene, he puffed smoke over battlefields, down streets and alleys, into dark interiors. Vincent recalls one setup in an underground restaurant: "Dan and the crew wore surgical masks, and the smoke was so bad that it formed a green gook on the outside. The actors couldn't wear masks, and we would just sit there for twelve hours a day, breathing, smoking and eating salty prosciutto."
Though Paramount's researchers went to considerable trouble to ensure historical accuracy, Curtis often had to settle for the feel of the era rather than exact, archaeological details. Hitler's Berlin, where many of the earlier scenes take place, no longer exists, of course; it was pounded into rubble by Allied bombers and Soviet tanks. Vienna had to do, and in fact it does very well. A huge room in the old Hofburg, the former residence of the imperial family, became the dictator's headquarters. "You couldn't get further away in architectural style," says Production Supervisor Pia Arnold, "but the image, the impact is the same. You see the uniforms going up and down the gigantic stairs of that building, and you get a feeling of the power of the Third Reich."
The cast could scarcely have been more disparate, but the atmosphere on the set soon became familial, with Mitchum playing father offstage as well as on. He suffered from a number of ailments and a fractured shoulder bone incurred in a fall on an ice-covered hill, but he was almost always ready when the camera turned his way. "Bob was once quite ill with the flu," says Tennant. "In one scene I had to run across the room and throw myself into his arms. I kept knocking him over, he was so weak. They finally got someone to kneel behind him and prop him up."