Trivia

"NOT IN THE SCRIPT: A scene for 'Tortilla Flat' required five dogs to jump on Frank Morgan simultaneously while he was sitting in church. For a time it seemed like an impossibility until director Victor Fleming started hiding things in the beard Morgan wears for the role. Bits of meat, a rubber mouse, fish and bacon were tried. The meat did the trick. 'How do you feel,' Fleming asked Morgan when a good 'take' was finally made. 'With five dogs getting lunch out of my beard,' said Morgan, 'I feel like an automat'..." (Newspaper Enterprise Association, "Erskine Johnson's Hollywood," The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Sunday 8 February 1942, Colume 48, page 16.)

John Garfield had to be loaned out from Warner Brothers to play Danny after producer Sam Zimbalist unsuccessfully tried to get Anthony Quinn for the role.

Spencer Tracy considered this one of his worst performances because he could not connect with the character and his buddies, and consequently he drank a lot to get through production, and laughed at Director Victor Fleming's jabs at John Garfield who had not worked on the MGM lot before but eventually understood Fleming's sense of humor. This movie was based on a John Steinbeck novel.

The picture of a woman holding a sword on the wall of Danny's house is from a poster for the World War One American Committee For Relief in the Near East - Armenia, Greece, Syria and Persia.

Originally, M.G.M. wanted Anthony Quinn or Desi Arnaz for the role of Danny, Rita Hayworth for Dolores Sweets Ramirez and Maria Montez for Fran(Cesca). Maria Montez was dating Jean-Pierre Aumont, who would become her second husband and father of her daughter Christina. Aumont was under contract to Metro and Montez was under contract to Universal Pictures. M.G.M. wanted to cash in on the publicity of the romance between the couple. Montez was as equally big a star as Hedy Lamarr, and the same type. M.G.M. probably then decided to cast Betty Wells in the role of Cesca.