When filming began on this movie in late-summer 1965, Tommy Kirk was on probation with Walt Disney Studios after an arrest for marijuana possession on Christmas Eve 1964. Although later cleared by the District Attorney's office, he was immediately replaced after the arrest by
Michael Anderson Jr. for the role of the youngest son in the John Wayne movie
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), for which principal shooting was to begin January 4, 1965. Newspapers of March 20, 1965, reported that Kirk had signed a five-year contract with American-International Pictures and on June 3, although details were not given, newspapers reports about Kirk stated that "His recent bout with the police in a mid-west city didn't do his clean cut kid image any good and his career with the Disney films seems over."