Paul Robeson disowned this picture, telling journalists that it was the only one of his films to have been screened in Italy and Germany. However, his claim to have walked out of the premiere in disgust was a re-invention of history.
Jomo Kenyatta, who was President of Kenya from 1963 to 1978, had a bit part in this movie as a tribal chief.
Some of the wonderful looking shots of African river scenes were in fact filmed on the River Thames at Shepperton.
This film had originally started as a project Alexander Korda assigned to be directed by Alfred Hitchcock, called "Wings of the Jungle". Hitchcock was only minimally involved in the earliest stages.