The first flat widescreen color Western. Although shot in 1.37:1 Academy ratio, the studio dictated that it be cropped in the movie projector to compete with the new CinemaScope format. The music was also recorded in stereo.
The last film of Jean Arthur.
The movie was released within a year after another landmark western, High Noon. It was actually made before the Gary Cooper film, but it spent several months in the editing rooms.
The movie's line "Come back, Shane!" was voted as the #69 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
The movie's line "Shane. Shane. Come back!" was voted as the #47 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
The music cues for the climactic ride that Shane takes to the showdown are from an earlier Paramount film, Rope of Sand.
The only Alan Ladd movie to have played at Radio City Music Hall.
The scene where Alan Ladd practices shooting in front of Brandon De Wilde took 119 takes to complete.
When writer A.B. Guthrie Jr. came on board the project, he didn't know what a screenplay looked like.