The film was banned in Egypt, as the British were still occupying the Suez Canal and the Sudan.
Richard Burton was obliged to make the film as part of his short-lived contract with 20th Century Fox. He later said every line of dialog sounded as though it had been taken directly from an army training manual.
The character Bartlett (MacRoberts' former schoolmaster) is portrayed as an alcoholic whose drinking caused him many troubles. Sadly, this was actually the case for the actor playing him, Robert Newton. He became increasingly unemployable due to his drinking, was declared a bankrupt in absentia, and would die just 3 years after this film. The cause of death was announced as a heart attack but was widely believed to be multiple alcohol-related causes.
Richard Burton, who was born in Wales but usually used an English accent in films, was generally felt to be miscast as a Scot.
James Mason played the same role of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel two years earlier in A Raposa do Deserto (1951).