For his American film debut, Mason was initially cast in the hard-hearted role enacted by Robert Ryan. Mason wanted to change the villainous image he'd established in British films and and asked to play the other male role.
James Mason wrote this poem about director Ophüls, "I think I know the reason why/producers tend to make him cry./Inevitably they demand some stationary set-ups, and a shot that does not call for tracks/is agony for dear poor Max/who, separated from his dolly, is wrapped in deepest melancholy./Once, when they took away his crane,/I thought he'd never smile again ..."
The 1992 restoration of the film, done at UCLA Film and Television Archives, was financed by Martin Scorsese, who would direct a biopic of Howard Hughes - upon whose life the film is loosely based - Aviator (2004) a decade later.
After reading the enthusiastic preview cards for "Caught," Mason said, "The release date was three months ahead. For everyone concerned...these were three months of euphoria...things returned to normal when the film opened in New York. No one came to see it."