In defiance of studio tradition, hairy-chested Paul Henreid refused to submit himself to the usual waxing, and appears throughout the film bare-chested and open-shirted with his furry chest intact.
Paul Henreid wrote in his memoirs that "The Spanish Main" was his idea. He said, "[I was] getting tired of being cast as the suave ladies' man, and I had definitely decided no more Nazis, so I started thinking in terms of something that would be more fun, a swashbuckling part in a pirate story."
The inspiration for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland.
Anne Bonny was an Irish pirate operating in the Caribbean in the early 1700s. She fought in men's clothing and was considered an expert with a pistol and cutlass. She was one of the most famous female pirates of all time. Other films featuring the character Anne Bonny include the 1951 Twentieth Century-Fox production "Anne of the Indies," directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Jean Peters, and the 1995 Carolco picture "Cutthroat Island," directed by Renny Harlin and starring Geena Davis.
RKO's first color film. The picture was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography but lost to Leave Her to Heaven. Its success was responsible for launching a series of Technicolor features at RKO including Sinbad, the Sailor (1947), Tycoon (1947) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949).