Producer Alex Gordon wanted to hire veterans Frank Lackteen and Edmund Cobb as passersby. The studio objected to the $100 salary for each, contending that they were functioning as extras and were only entitled to $20. Wanting these old-time actors to get a day's pay, Gordon paid them out of his own pocket.
The alien being from his film was the inspiration for the aliens Kang and Kodos in the hit animated television series, "The Simpsons"
The film inspired Le sous-marin de l'apocalypse (1961) and the TV series Voyage au fond des mers (1964). It was also remade as an episode of that series.
The trailer for this Allied Artists release played down the science fiction elements and made it look more like a military action film.
This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #366.