This was Fritz Lang's first film in Hollywood, and he wasn't accustomed to labor laws that require meal breaks. Shortly after filming began, Lang ate a quick lunch between set-ups and resumed filming. Some of the crew members wondering about their lunch break asked Spencer Tracy, who in turn pointed out to Lang that it was "1:30 pm and the crew had yet to take their break". Lang replied that it was his set and that "I will call lunch when I think it should be called." Tracy then smeared his make-up with his hand, knowing that it would take at least 90 minutes to fix it, yelled "Lunch!" and promptly walked off the set with the crew.
According to modern sources, Fritz Lang was the first filmmaker to use newsreel footage as courtroom evidence in a motion picture, and may have done so before it was used in an actual court case.
Terry, better known as Toto from The Wizard of Oz (1939), appears in this film as Rainbow, the dog that Joe Wilson takes in from the rain.
The script was based upon the 1933 kidnapping and murder of Brooke Hart, the son of the owner of Hart's Department Store in San Jose, CA. The two suspects were pulled from jail by a group of vigilantes, who dragged them across the street to St. James Park and lynched them.
Director Fritz Lang threw smoke bombs into the riot scene to rile up his actors. One of them struck Bruce Cabot, who had to be physically restrained from punching the director.
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