John Ford was the original director of the film but after seeing dailies, Darryl F. Zanuck felt Ford wasn't connecting with the material. Zanuck called Elia Kazan in New York and asked him to take over the film. Kazan felt he owed Zanuck for his film career and agreed to do the movie without even looking at the script. He flew to Los Angeles and started filming the next Monday.
Ethel Waters, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in this film, was the second African-American actor in history to be nominated for an Oscar.
Lena Horne initially campaigned to play the title role in this movie (she was light enough to photograph "white"), but in the end, the movie studio felt white American audiences would feel more comfortable with a white actress, especially since love scenes with a white actor were involved.
Linda Darnell showed interest in the lead role, but Darryl F. Zanuck noticed that her character resembled her character in Ambre (1947) too much. Fearing comparison, he rejected her for the lead.