Most filming for the movie was shot on location at a real factory in Hiratsuke, named Nippon Kogaku, which helped give the movie more of a documentary feel to it. To get the best performance out of his actors, Akira Kurosawa had them live in the dormitory at the factory during filming, while being trained in the same jobs their characters were doing. This would start the career long trend of Kurosawa having his cast and crew live on set as big families during both preproduction and filming.
Akira Kurosawa married actress 'Yoko Yaguchi' (born Kiyo Kato), who played Tsuru in "The Most Beautiful," after becoming close through many famed arguments during filming. They married on May 21, 1945 while Yaguchi was two months pregnant, and stayed together until her death in 1985.
In order to save film during wartime, the Japanese government ordered films to be released to have no opening titles and thus giving no credit to most of the actors or workers on each film. This included "The Most Beautiful" (1944).
The Information Section of the Japanese Navy, just after the success of Sanshiro Sugata (1943) approached Akira Kurosawa about making a film focusing on Zero fighter pilots. Due to budget issues at this stage in the war, he instead made "The Most Beautiful" (1944).
Akira Kurowsawa's lowest rated film on IMDb.