David O. Selznick had originally intended this property as his artistic follow-up to Gone with the Wind. He envisioned a lavish production with no expense spared, and ultimately he got his wish. Constant production delays, many caused by Selznick's meddling and the hiring and firing of as many as seven directors (including Selznick himself), as well as an extended editing period to cut the film from its original 26-hour running time, caused the budget to balloon to a then-horrifying sum of $6 million, plus an additional $2 million in marketing costs. Though the film eventually did turn a profit, it effectively marked the end of Sleznick's career. However, he went on to produce prestige films such as The Paradine Case, Portrait of Jennie, The Third Man and A Farewell to Arms.
David O. Selznick reportedly spent $2,000,000.00, an unheard of sum in 1946, on the promotion of this film.
Jennifer Jones scraped and cut herself quite badly during the scene where she crawls over the rocks and dirt.
Film debut of Joan Tetzel.
The British writing-directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were shown a pre-release screening of the film by producer David O. Selznick. Both were thoroughly unimpressed with the mo0vie, but didn't want to offend Selznick by saying so. At the end of the film, when Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones are crawling towards each other on a mountain and when they get near each other they both open fire, Pressburger turned to Powell and whispered, "What a pity they didn't shoot the screenwriter".
The film was nicknamed "Lust in the Dust", which would later serve as the inspiration for the film Lust in the Dust.
The role of Pearl was originally written for Teresa Wright, as a departure from her girl-next-door image. However, pregnancy forced her to drop out.
This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE.
This film's musical score was the subject of a famous soundstage exchange between producer David O. Selznick and composer Dimitri Tiomkin. When Selznick first heard Tiomkin's "love theme", he was visibly disappointed and admonished the composer, "You don't understand. I want real f**king music!" To which Tiomkin angrily replied, "You f**k your way, I f**k my way. F**k you - I quit!" Their differences were eventually patched up, and Tiomkin's music was used in the final film.