Quiz

Clark Gable was ill during filming. He did not like the way he appeared in the movie, believing he looked too bloated and red in the face. He was widely felt to be too old for his character.

When the original version of the finished film was submitted to MGM executives, they didn't like it. The film went through heavy editing, and a producer had the idea of tying together the surviving pieces by adding voice-over narration from Mitchell's grown up son, as if he is telling his father's life story. Howard Keel, who had just finished making Show Boat (1951), was brought in for this purpose. The changes led to director William A. Wellman effectively disowning the film. When asked about it in an interview, he said "I've not seen it, and I never will."

Clark Gable personally chose William A. Wellman to direct because he admired Bastogne (1949).

Uncredited stuntman, Jack N. Young, who had doubled for Clark Gable in several movies as they were look-a-likes, was requested by Gable to be his double on this movie. Gable asked Mr. Young if he would do his stunts without credit as it was billed Gable was doing his own stunts. Mr. Young graciously told Mr. Gable that was fine. Mr. Young could see that Mr. Gable was ill and would not be able to do his own stunts as he had in the past. The admiration for each other was never more apparent than this conversation between the two men.

During filming Ricardo Montalban was thrown from a horse and trampled. The resulting injury to his spine left him in constant pain for the rest of his life which increased as he aged, eventually leading to a 9-1/2 hour operation in 1993 in an unsuccessful attempt to correct the damage. The operation left him paralyzed from the waist down.