According to actor Jamie Farr, the movie debuted on Saturday night at the Rivoli in his home town of Toledo. Most of Toledo's Arab-American community turned out to see it. As a scene where Bogart walks though a crowded bazaar begins to fade, an Arab voice is heard shouting, "Ya hallah deen bayak!" which caused most of the audience to collapse in laughter. The non-Arabs in the house did not understand why everyone else was laughing until the line was translated for them: "Goddamn your father!"
According to Humphrey Bogart, who was involved in producing the film as well acting in it, a total of eleven screenwriters worked on the script.
The odd presence of black African soldiers in the Middle East who followed the orders of French officers but did not wear French military uniforms goes unexplained. In fact, these were members of the Senegalese Tirailleurs, men from France's African colonies who were conscripted to serve for the French military. 200,000 Africans fought for France during World War I, shortly before the film Sirocco's story. 30,000 were killed. As seen in the film, their uniforms included red Fez hats introduced by North African units from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
The film is based on the Great Syrian Revolt (1925-1927) against the French colonial empire. The League of Nations had created the "Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon" (1923-1946), which granted administrative control of these areas of the Levant to France. The repressive policies of the French authorities were considered unacceptable by most of the local political and religious factions. The rebels included Sunni, Druze, and Shiite factions, traditionally hostile to each other. They joined forces against their common oppressor.