"Do Not Forsake Me, Oh, My Darlin'" was the first Oscar-winning song from a non-musical film.
Gregory Peck, an activist liberal Democrat who strongly opposed blacklisting, later said that turning down this film was the biggest regret of his career, although he modestly added that he didn't think he could have played the lead character as well as Gary Cooper did.
Sheb Wooley, who played Ben Miller, had recording success in 1958 with the novelty "The Purple People Eater"(#1 US pop).
Lee Van Cleef was originally hired to play Deputy Harvey Pell. However, the studio decided that his nose was too "hooked", which made him look like a villain, and told him to get it fixed. He refused, and Lloyd Bridges got the part. Van Cleef was given the smaller role of gunman Jack Colby, one of the Miller gang.
Bill Clinton's all-time favorite film. He watched it seventeen times during his two terms as President of the United States.
John Wayne strongly disliked this movie because he knew it was an allegory for blacklisting, which he and his friend Ward Bond had strongly and actively supported. Twenty years later he was still criticizing it in his controversial May 1971 interview with Playboy magazine. Inventing a scene that was never in the movie, he claimed Gary Cooper had thrown his marshal's badge to the ground and stepped on it. He also stated he would never regret having driven blacklisted screenwriter Carl Foreman out of Hollywood.
Frankie Laine had a million-selling record with the title song "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling)", though Tex Ritter's version of the song, heard on the soundtrack, has fared well over the years.
Gary Cooper became a close friend of Carl Foreman during filming, and they continued to correspond for the rest of Cooper's life.
Gary Cooper had a bleeding ulcer at the time of filming.
Gary Cooper was reluctant to do his big fight scene with Lloyd Bridges, as he was suffering from back pain at the time.
Gary Cooper was responsible for getting soon-to-be-graylisted actor Lloyd Bridges the role of Harvey Pell.
Gary Cooper worked on the film for three weeks in September 1951.
Gary Cooper, B movie producer Robert L. Lippert and screenwriter Carl Foreman were set to go into a production company together, after the success of this film. John Wayne and Ward Bond ordered Cooper to back out of the deal, as HUAC was preparing to "blacklist" Foreman. Shortly afterward, Lippert was made persona non grata by the Screen Actors Guild, which destroyed his independent production company.
Katy Jurado says, "One year without seeing you" in Spanish, to which Cooper replies, "Yes, I know."
Fred Zinnemann wanted a hot, stark look to the film. Cinematographer Floyd Crosby achieved this by not filtering the sky and having the prints made a few points lighter than normal.
Fred Zinnemann's meticulous planning enabled him to make 400 shots in only four weeks.
Grace Kelly was cast after Stanley Kramer saw her in an off-Broadway play. He arranged a meeting with her and signed her on the spot.