Los comancheros

George Sherman produced this film, and Michael Curtiz directed it. During much of the shooting, Curtiz was seriously ill: he died of cancer shortly after the film's release. On the days when Curtiz was too ill to work, John Wayne took over direction. When the film was completed, he told the studio that he did not want credit as co-director and insisted that Curtiz's name alone appear as director. Wayne performed the same function in 1971 on "Gigante entre los hombres (1971)," which was directed by Sherman, who took ill during production. Wayne directed the film on the days when Sherman couldn't and again insisted that he not receive co-director credit.

The guns used in the movie are Colt Single Action model 1873 revolvers, look-alike Henry lever-action model 1860 rifles, and Winchester model 1892 lever-action rifles. The only correct period guns are the single-shot percussion-cap dueling pistols used in the opening scene.

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure an 'A' rating. When released on home video in 1988, the BBFC made cuts of 11 seconds to remove shots of horse-falls to secure a 'PG' rating. For the DVD release, the BBFC made cuts of 8 seconds in 2003 to remove similar shots of horse-falls resulting in a 'PG' rating. To date (December 2014), the film has not been released fully uncut on UK media.

Featured in Hollywood Remembers Lee Marvin (2000)