Initially planned as a grand-scale spectacular drama with Jeanne Moreau to play the lead, then Catherine Deneuve (then having an affair with François Truffaut) was considered for the role. The film took 7 years to be made, and finally Truffaut decided on Isabelle Adjani whom he noticed on a TV broadcast of the Comédie Française.
In 1988, Isabelle Adjani played the title role in Camille Claudel (1988), playing another historical character who suffered from schizophrenia. A major scene in that movie depicts the announcement of the death of Victor Hugo, Adele Hugo's father.
Gitlis (as the hypnotist) dismisses his Chinese assistant so he can discuss in private with Adele. He allegedly talks to her in Chinese, but actually tells her in Hebrew to get lost.
The film is based on true facts.
Isabelle Adjani met Lillian Gish at the New York Film Critics Awards dinner in 1976. Adjani won Best Actress at the event for 'The Story of Adele H." Later, publicly, Gish announced to the press, "Adjani will go far. Her face has no angles!"