Robert Mitchum hated making the film, later claiming that any American actor could have played Keeley.
Gloria Grahame later said that Ginny in this movie was her favorite role.
Edward Dmytryk opted to use a noir lighting style because of its inexpensiveness and the fact that it was invariably very quick to set up. This explains why the film only took 20 days to shoot.
Because of the film's tight shooting schedule, it was able to beat the similarly themed Gentleman's Agreement into theaters by three and a half months.
Despite receiving an Academy Award nomination, Robert Ryan rarely talked about his breakthrough role as he wasn't too happy about the negative aspects of his character. This was because he played a murderous anti-Semite, whereas in real life Ryan was a committed liberal who abhorred any forms of bigotry.
It was suggested that one of the reasons why the film failed to win any Oscars was due to Director Edward Dmytryk and Producer Adrian Scott's refusal to testify before the House Unamerican Activities Committee.
The focus of the novel dealt with homophobia, but the subject was changed to anti-Semitism for the film.