A method of manufacturing a birefringent film is provided, by which a birefringent film including a liquid crystal compound birefringent layer and another birefringent layer can be manufactured so as to have a reduced thickness in a reduced number of process steps. In the manufacturing method, a non-liquid crystal polymer birefringent layer that has been subjected to an aligning treatment is used as an alignment layer for a liquid crystal compound. According to the manufacturing method, the process step of separately preparing an alignment layer and the need for the additional alignment layer can be eliminated, thereby allowing the total thickness of the birefringent film to be reduced.