Walter Brennan, an Old West aficionado and historian, saw Robert Mitchum walk onto the set in costume and said, "That is the god-damnedest realest cowboy I've ever seen!"
Many critics consider the first western with film noir style.
Shortly after this movie was made, the new boss of RKO, Howard Hughes, terminated Barbara Bel Geddes' contract, saying she wasn't sexy enough. She would go on to become most famous for her role of Miss Ellie Ewing on the long-running nighttime soap opera Dallas (1978).
For the night scenes director Robert Wise and cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca chose to use infrared film, despite problems it could cause with tones of clothes and makeup.
(at around 9 mins) Gunfire is exchanged between Jim Garry and Amy Lufton, and Jim fires his rifle 13 times without reloading. While it may seem this would not be possible, because of the size of the cartridges used on the Winchester Model 73, the magazine can hold between 15 and 20 rounds.