Trivia
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Spoilers (1)
Winifred Watson's book was published the fall of 1938 and it became a smash hit. Plans were in the works for a Hollywood film version starring Billie Burke as Miss Pettigrew, but the start of WWII brought those plans to a halt. The publisher re-released the book in 2000 which led to it being "found" again by Hollywood after 60+ years.
The shot of Delysia getting out of the bath is a based on Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus', as she copies the body position together with the sea-shell pattern on the wall behind her.
Amy Adams said in an interview, "I would like to see "Miss Pettigrew" on Broadway! There's that one musical number in it now, and I think there's room for more."
Frances McDormand's character Guinevere Pettigrew claims to be raised by a clergyman, when in real life, McDormand's adoptive father is Canadian minister Vernan McDormand.
The sound editing of the scene with Delysia in the bath proved very tricky as the sound of the bubbles bursting had to be removed from the soundtrack. This was done by the forensic department of the police.
Spoilers
After Edythe (Shirley Henderson) and Joe (Ciarán Hinds) have their confrontation backstage, Joe slowly passes behind Edythe. While he is doing this, Edythe looks remorsefully down and to her right. After several more steps, Joe opens the stage door and closes it softly behind him. As the door closes, Edythe shifts her gaze down to her left for two beats, then looks directly into the camera and breaks the "fourth wall" for two more beats before the scene ends. It was either a choice, or an expectation after looking down/left for two beats that the director would call "cut". It is nonetheless a very brief yet startling effect.
