Norman Mailer, the author of the best-selling and critically acclaimed novel on which the film is based, was reported to have said it was the worst movie he had ever seen after viewing the film.
In the Norman Mailer novel, the behind-the-lines reconnaissance patrol is terminated when the members are attacked and somewhat comically run off by swarming hornets.
Charles Laughton was originally slated to direct the film, but the commercial failure of O Mensageiro do Diabo (1955) put him off the idea of ever directing again.
This film was originally to be released by RKO Radio Pictures, but by the time it was ready for release, that studio had closed down and the film was distributed by Warner Bros. It may be the only instance where the logos of both these companies appear on the same film. The TCM print bears an RKO Radio Pictures logo, stretched out to wide screen proportions, and an RKO Teleradio Pictures copyright statement.
The ship LST-1079, later named the U.S.S. Payette County, appears about 10 minutes into the film. Comissioned in May 1945, she was at Pearl Harbor when the war ended. She was decommissioned in May 1946 and mothballed. She was brought back to service for the Korean War in October 1950. She was sold for scrap in 1961.