Although most Westerns by this time were being produced in color, Delmer Daves and Charles Lawton Jr. opted to shoot this one in black and white. Lawton used red filters on his lenses, however, to give the landscape an even more starkly parched look, befitting the story's setting amid a lengthy drought.
Approximately 20 to 25 minutes into the film Ben Wade goes to the door of the saloon, and as he looks out, whistles the theme composed for the soundtrack. This is unusual because the soundtrack music for a film is usually composed after filming is completed. The whistling was dubbed afterwards during post-production.
In casting the film, Delmer Daves first hired actors from his previous two movies, Glenn Ford and Felicia Farr. Due to their work on these movies, Ford and Farr were quite used to the complex characters and themes that Daves brought to the genre.
This film, along with the equally allegorical Mezzogiorno di fuoco (1952), was a deciding factor in Howard Hawks deciding to make Un dollaro di onore (1959), a return to more optimistic, less revisionist Westerns.
Glenn Ford was originally offered the role of Dan Evans. He refused and suggested himself for the role of Ben Wade.
Contribuisci a questa pagina
Suggerisci una modifica o aggiungi i contenuti mancanti
