The film proved to be a complete failure on release, both critically and commercially. Clark Gable was annoyed by the comparisons with Lo que el viento se llevó (1939) and instructed his agent, "If it doesn't suit an old geezer with false teeth, forget about it." He also decided to part company with Raoul Walsh, previously one of his favorite directors.
The movie was derisively nicknamed "The Ghost of Gone with the Wind".
As a result of her great success with Los diez mandamientos (1956), Yvonne De Carlo was offered the female leads in two Warner Brothers films: Sufrir es mi destino (1957) and this movie. She chose this movie after learning that Clark Gable, one of her favorite actors, would be her co-star.
The five thousand dollars that Hamish Bond pays to buy Amantha Starr at a slave auction would be worth close to one hundred fifty-two thousand dollars in 2018.
In her 1987 autobiography, Yvonne De Carlo wrote: "Band of Angels made money, but it was not the hit we all hoped it would be. It was said that the timing wasn't right to deal with racial issues."