Kenji Takaki was the only actor to survive from the London stage production.
Michael Balcon had wanted to cast Peter O'Toole, who had played the part on stage, in the role of Bamforth. Another actor considered was Albert Finney. However, the American backers required a "name", and Laurence Harvey was cast.
The name of the film derives from the second line of the soldier's song "Bless 'em All" which was originally written in 1917, and which is also known as "The Long and the Short and the Tall".
This was granted an X certificate when it was initially released, mainly due to the harshness of its language. The word "bastard" is uttered several times throughout the film.