The Diary of Anne Frank

Audrey Hepburn was first offered the role of Anne Frank, and Otto Frank was among those who nominated her. She refused it for three reasons. Firstly, she had decided to accept the role in Green Mansions (1959). Secondly, she had lived in occupied The Netherlands during the war and had seen the Nazis carry out street executions and watched as they herded Jews onto boxcars to carry them to concentration camps. She knew that making the film would bring back memories that were far too painful for her. However, thirdly, she was 30 and felt that she was too old to play a teenage character convincingly on screen.

Anne Frank was given the diary for her thirteenth birthday, a few days before they all went into hiding and not after going into hiding as depicted in the film.

At the end, neither a "The End" credit nor a cast list appears, only the title of the film once more ("The Diary of Anne Frank").

Originally released at 170 minutes, then later cut and available only in 156-minutes version. Complete edition has been recently restored on video.