Anecdotes

Bernard V. Calka, of Macomb County, MI--a Polish-American World War II veteran--petitioned the US Army to return Slovik's remains to the US. In 1987 he convinced President Ronald Reagan to order their return. Calka raised $8,000 to pay for the exhumation of Slovik's remains and for their transfer to Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery, where Slovik was reburied next to his wife.

In 1960 Frank Sinatra announced that he wanted to film William Bradford Huie's book, with a script by Albert Maltz. Since Maltz was one of the Hollywood Ten, and given the anti-war nature of the story, Sinatra was publicly accused by John Wayne of having Communist sympathies. At the time Sinatra was campaigning for John F. Kennedy, who persuaded him to drop the project.

James Dean considered making this in the mid-'50s.

The court-martial scene was filmed in the Grand Ballroom of the passenger ship and tourist attraction Queen Mary, in Long Beach, CA.

About 35 minutes in, as Eddie (Martin Sheen) is leaving for his late-night walk, he tosses his jacket on over his head in the move made famous by Sheen's Jeb Bartlet portrayal inThe West Wing (1999) . This is due to a shoulder injury Sheen suffered at birth.