In his autobiography, Sir Christopher Lee claimed that Director Robert Siodmak changed the original screenplay: "The script started life as serious, nay solemn, but Robert Siodmak, the director, with all the sure touch of real tension behind him in I gangsters (1946) and La scala a chiocciola (1946), took stock of the material in forty-eight hours and turned it into a comedy."
Because of cost overruns on this movie and Il trono nero (1954), Warner Brothers insisted that future movies from Burt Lancaster be limited to $900,000. Lancaster's response was to strike a new deal with United Artists.
Cost overruns ballooned the original 1.1 million dollar budget to 1.85 million dollars.