In one of the school scenes, the children say the Pledge of Allegiance with their right arms extended, pointed toward the flag. This was the Bellamy Salute suggested by Francis Bellamy, who wrote the original version of the Pledge. Due to its similarity to the Nazi and Fascist salute, President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the position to hand-over-the-heart. This was later codified into law in 1942.
The novel is actually made up of four short stories: "The Gift," "The Great Mountain," "The Leader of the People" and "The Promise." Each was published separately in magazines between 1933 and 1937.
The 81-day shooting schedule was at the time the longest and costliest for Republic Pictures.
Beau Bridges' third film appearance despite only being 5 years old during filming.
The film was made in the summer of 1947, before Robert Mitchum became a major star in December 1947 with the US release of "Out of the Past".