The film took seven years of complicated pre-production because its producers, Melvin Abner Fishman and Richard Herland – a student of
Jung and
alchemy – wanted the film to be "the first Jungian film" and built up relationships with the Hesse family that allowed the film rights of the book to be released. Herland raised the finances. Directors
Michelangelo Antonioni and
John Frankenheimer, as well as the actor
James Coburn were all touted to direct the film. In the end, the film was directed by its screenwriter,
Fred Haines. Although
Walter Matthau,
Jack Lemmon and
Timothy Leary were all proposed as playing the main role of Harry Haller, the role eventually went to
Max von Sydow. Although the film was made in English, none of the principal actors were native English speakers.
Steppenwolf was filmed on location in
Basel,
Switzerland,
Wiesbaden,
Germany, and at
Studio Hamburg in Germany. Finally, the rights to the finished film were entirely given over to Peter Sprague, its financier. A "marketing disaster" followed, which included the colour of the prints coming out incorrectly. For decades the film remained little seen except for brief runs in
art film houses. Because they were not content with the way the 2 films based on Hesse's novels (the other being "Siddhartha") came out, the rights were never given for any of his other novels to be translated to screen. ==Reception==