Based on Richard Brooks' first novel, "The Brick Foxhole" (1945), written while he was still a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. One of the many subplots of the novel dealt with homophobia, but that was changed to anti-Semitism and became the focus of the story for the film. The decision was made by producer Adrian Scott, who had purchased the rights to the novel, knowing any depiction of homosexuality would not get past the Production Code Administration.
Robert Mitchum hated making the film, later claiming that any American actor could have played Keeley.
Thanks to cinematographer J. Roy Hunt, the film's atmospheric, low-key lighting was accomplished quickly and efficiently. This explains why it took only 24 days to shoot. It also resulted in what many consider to be one of the most visually impressive film noirs ever made.
It has been suggested that one reason the film failed to win any Oscars was director Edward Dmytryk and producer Adrian Scott's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in late 1947. They refused to state whether they were, or had been, Communists. Dmytryk--a Canadian who had become an American citizen only a decade earlier--and Scott became the first two "members" of the infamous "Hollywood Ten". The Hollywood Ten was a group of producers, writers, and directors who, in April 1948, were tried and convicted of contempt of Congress. They were subsequently blacklisted and, thus, unable to work in Hollywood.