A shrike, according to the play, is "an innocent-looking bird who likes to impale her victim on a thorn," no doubt referring to the viciousness of the titular female character.
Allyson badly wanted to play a dramatic, villainous role and, according to her, "begged them to let me (play Ann Downs)." However, preview audiences said "'June Allyson would never, ever put her husband in an insane asylum and leave him there. She'd at least get him out.' We had to reshoot the end of the film where I went back to the insane asylum . . . So I could be good. So the public never accepted me as anything but the wife and the girl next door."
In the original play, the character of Charlotte is frequently mentioned but never appears. The film adds her as a major character played by Joy Page.
The original Broadway production of "The Shrike" by Joseph A. Kramm opened on January 15, 1952 at the Cort Theater, ran for 161 performances and won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1952.