First suggested as a vehicle for Bette Davis and Clark Gable. Ultimately the idea of casting Gable was abandoned as the actor was no longer under contract to MGM and refused to ever work there again because of the poor treatment he had received there when he was let go a few years earlier.
The majority of location filming took place in Oxford, MS, near the University of Mississippi campus. George Hamilton recalled that author William Faulkner, who was writer-in-residence at the university, would climb up a tree and stay there for several hours watching the film being shot. Some scenes were filmed in the small town William Humphrey's novel was set in--Clarksville, TX.
Just exactly when the story is taking place is never made clear. All the women's hairstyles and fashions are strictly in the 1959 mode, but all the prominent automobiles, particularly the featured 1948 Chrysler, are at least ten years older.
Eleanor Parker reportedly was unhappy that Robert Mitchum was getting $200,000 and a percentage of the gross, while she was getting only a flat $75,000.
Given the film's critical dismissal and lack of Oscar® attention, this movie performed surprisingly well at the box office, costing $2,406,570 and grossing $5,610,627 in worldwide rentals. This was the last film of Vincente Minnelli's career to turn a profit.