Filmed in Yugoslavia with money put up by a West German porn producer.
According to actor Vadim Glowna, Director Sam Peckinpah drank four whole bottles of whiskey or vodka during every day of shooting while sleeping approximately only three or four hours per night.
At 48, James Coburn was widely felt to be too old to play Corporal Steiner. The man on whom his character was based, Johann Schwerdfeger, was only 28 in the summer of 1943.
Orson Welles said this was the best war movie he had seen since À l'Ouest rien de nouveau (1930). He appreciated that the story was shown from the viewpoint of an ordinary soldier.
Vadim Glowna confessed that, for the casting, he met Sam Peckinpah in a Munich bar where Peckinpah also brought to own daughter. Glowna did not know who she actually was and first thought she was Peckinpah's secretary. Peckinpah first asked Glowna if he wanted to f...with her. Glowna realized later that was a test to check if he was the best for the role. Glowna blushed at the question and obtained the role.