In his second autobiography, published in 1994, Bryan Forbes made the extraordinary claim that Rock Hudson had, during a break in filming, told him all about his homosexuality. Given that homosexuality was illegal in both Britain and America at the time, sometimes punishable by terms of imprisonment, and regarded by many people as abhorrent, it seems amazing that a young actor, on the brink of major stardom, but not yet quite there, should divulge such a thing to someone he'd only recently met. Forbes did not describe the circumstances behind Hudson's admission - it might have been a proposition.
Bryan Forbes was brought into the film through his friendship with Raoul Walsh, who had directed him in The World in His Arms (1952) the year prior, and implied that he had done some rewriting of the screenplay at Walsh's behest. Some sources suggest that Forbes's sidekick role had originally been intended for Barry Fitzgerald - so maybe there was indeed some rewriting.
Started out as an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel "Les Travailleurs de la Mer", with its English title 'Toilers of the Sea' being the film's working title. However, the screenplay diverges massively from the novel, with the only similarities ending up being the location and character names, with everything else being original. Thus the film was retitled and Hugo is not credited.
This film's earliest documented telecast took place in Baltimore. MD Friday 1 May 1959 on WMAR (Channel 2). This telecast was in black-and-white. The film was still in widespread theatrical distribution in its original Technicolor format.