Clark Gable's last picture before he was released from his MGM contract in March 1954. He first signed with the studio in 1930 (he'd first appeared at the studio as an extra in The Merry Widow (1925)). By the early 1950s most of his films were unsuccessful at the box office and MGM found it difficult to justify his $500,000 per year salary. Gable too was anxious to enter into far more lucrative percentage deals and would do so exclusively for the remaining 6 years of his life.
Gregory Peck was originally slated for the lead part, with Richard Widmark (borrowed from Twentieth Century-Fox) and Ava Gardner co-starring.
Although the movie proved to be a critical and commercial failure, Clark Gable was able to remain a Top 10 Box Office attraction for 1954 thanks to a successful re-release of Gone with the Wind (1939).
Louis Calhern's scenes were shot in Hollywood and added to the film after the main work on the film had been done in England. The British actors in the film didn't have idea he was going to be in the film, as his character was not included in the script they had worked from.
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