This was a dream project for Charlton Heston, and he had a heavy input into all aspects of the production. His strong feeling was that the film should be essentially an intimate drama, but he found that Universal expected a sort of historical epic, such as he had made many times before. He could not shake them from this goal, and the studio re-edited the film so that the action scenes were more prolonged, whilst several more intimate scenes were cut. He had wanted Stanley Baker for the Guy Stockwell role. The film was a box-office flop, and the experience was one which rankled Heston for the remainder of his life.
Despite being set in 11th-century Normandy, this was filmed entirely in California--most unusual at the time, as most large-scale historical epics were shot in either Spain or Italy.
Bors is supposed to be much older than Chrysagon, but Richard Boone was only six years older than Charlton Heston.
Charlton Heston admitted in his 1978 journal "An Actor's Life" that he was not impressed by Richard Boone's performance.
The stage play on which this film is based, "The Lovers" by Leslie Stevens, premiered on Broadway with a cast including Darren McGavin in the Charlton Heston role (Chrysagon) as well as Robert Lansing, Hurd Hatfield and Pernell Roberts. The role of the virginal village girl, named Duone in the play, was portrayed by Joanne Woodward in her Broadway debut. The play opened on May 10, 1956 and closed on May 12, 1956 after only four performances.