Ben Hecht's anti-British statements in the late 1940s (due to their involvement with Israel) so angered the nation that the UK prints replaced his name with a pseudonym, Lester Barstow.
The first two drafts of the script were much closer to the original novel than the final movie - not too surprisingly, as they were co-written by the source novel author, Guy Endore (in collaboration with a studio contract writer, Harry Kleiner). The second of these versions was submitted in April, 1946, and both were rejected by the studio. The project was put on hold for about two-and-a-half years, but then another writer, Andrew Solt, came up with an entirely new approach - one which changed the names of the leading characters, greatly altered the plot and changed the identity of the villain, substituting a new character who has no counterpart in the original. The final draft of the script was written by Ben Hecht, and it is likely that all the dialogue in the film is Hecht's. However, he was greatly displeased with his own contribution and later disparaged the film.
At one point in the film, Theresa Randolph (Barbara O'Neil) tells Ann (Gene Tierney) that she is old enough to be her mother. However, in reality, O'Neil was only ten years older than Tierney.
This film was completed in mid-1949, trade shown in New York City in November 1949, and reviewed in the various trade journals in Novembert 1949, but since it was not publicly shown until January 1950, it's often mistakenly regarded as a 1950 production.
This film is a very free adaptation of the novel "Methinks the Lady" by Guy Endore, a Hollywood screenwriter who had been blacklisted by the time the film was released.