During the final shootout, Morgan was supposed to beat Smithers to the draw. However, the actor playing Smithers, Brian G. Hutton kept beating Douglas to the draw. Finally it was decided that Kirk Douglas should be holding a shotgun thereby ending that argument. Afterwards Douglas remarked "Can you imagine that upstart beating me to the draw?" Anthony Quinn said, "Don't worry about it, Kirk. We'll get him in the editing room."
For the sequences showing the train in Gun Hill, Paramount installed 600 feet of track snaking in and around their western street located at their Hollywood studio. At one point the steam engine traveled right under the window of Paramount chief executive Y. Frank Freeman who protested so much about the resulting noise that the tracks had to be moved.
John Sturges learned very late that the dialogues, which he found terrific, were actually written by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo.
This was Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn's third movie together after Die Fahrten des Odysseus (1954) and Vincent van Gogh - Ein Leben in Leidenschaft (1956). However, a bitter legal battle about who owned the rights to the Spartacus story (they both had rival productions in development) would lead to a falling out between the two stars. Kirk, of course, won.
This was also Anthony Quinn's third film with character actor Earl Holliman. In addition to Der letzte Zug von Gun Hill (1959), Holliman played Quinn's son in Hitzewelle (1958). In an archival interview with TCM, Holliman recalled that "Tony (Quinn) once said to me...'if we play father and son again, I'm going to put you on an allowance.'"
This was also Anthony Quinn's third film with character actor Earl Holliman. In addition to Der letzte Zug von Gun Hill (1959), Holliman played Quinn's son in Hitzewelle (1958). In an archival interview with TCM, Holliman recalled that "Tony (Quinn) once said to me...'if we play father and son again, I'm going to put you on an allowance.'"