The first assignment that director Anthony Mann felt he could call his own creation after doing several "B" pictures for RKO.
First film noir "heavy" role for Raymond Burr, and only his third credited film. He would appear as the bad guy in many more films, most notably in La finestra sul cortile (1954), until his change to the other side of the law in Perry Mason (1957) and Ironside (1967).
After working with Raymond Burr on I predoni della montagna (1947), Steve Brodie lobbied director Anthony Mann to have Burr play his nemesis in this film. Burr would return the favor by having Brodie guest-star on his TV series Perry Mason (1957) three times from 1959-63.
The broken-down car Steve fixes and is accused of stealing is a 1929 Ford Model A coupe. The sheriff picks up the couple in a 1941 Ford station wagon. Radak drives a 1937 Buick Roadmaster sedan.