Originally titled 'The Newspaper Story', location shooting took place both in the newsroom and the printing plant of The New York Daily News, with real pressmen playing themselves. This was augmented by an 'almost letter-perfect' reproduction of a newsroom on a Hollywood soundstage.
The story is based on the closing of the New York Sun, founded by Benjamin H. Day, in 1950. The Sun was sold to the Scripps Howard chain and absorbed into the "World-Telegram".
In order to get the feel of what it would be like to work for real newspaper, Humphrey Bogart hung out at the city room of the New York Daily News.
James Dean appears in a tiny non-speaking role in the film as a press boy.
He is momentarily seen in the background over the shoulder of the press operator. Noticeable only with freeze frame and an eagle eye.
He is also in the center of a group of men after an "incident" in the press room. He is wearing a dark shirt.
In the original version, the gangster is called Rienzi and has Italian origins; in the Italian dubbed version, he's called Rodzich and comes from Eastern Europe.