Claude Rains at first turned down the part, feeling he would be miscast and look ridiculous as a tough New York City cop. Only after being threatened by the studio with suspension did he reluctantly accept it, but he always considered this one of his least favorite pictures.
Desert location shooting was so hot at times that the film melted in the camera. This was probably an exaggeration. The melting point of cellulose nitrate film, as used well into the 40's and even 50's, is around 302-338 degrees Fahrenheit. It was notoriously flammable and great care was taken to insure the film wasn't exposed to temperatures anywhere near this high. The actors would melt long before the film.
Director Busby Berkeley first made a name for himself with musical spectaculars like Footlight Parade (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) and 42nd Street (1933). He persuaded Warner Brothers executives to let him do a dramatic picture, and they assigned him to this film. He didn't shed his musical association entirely, however. The film contains an in-joke when "Dippy" (Huntz Hall) operates the controls of a makeshift shower. He serenades the bathing "Jack/Johnnie" with "By a Waterfall," a song from Berkeley's hit "Footlight Parade".
The John Garfield character, Johnnie Bradfield, is obsessed with not being made a sucker. The word "sucker" is used twenty times in the film.
The fourth of seven movies featuring The Dead End Kids. In the original film, The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933), the kids are played by Mickey Rooney and several cast members of the our "Our Gang" comedy shorts - a much younger crowd.