This was Robert Walker's inauspicious comeback after two years of inactivity, much of which was spent in a sanitarium following his nervous breakdown in response to his ex-wife Jennifer Jones' remarriage to David O. Selznick.
M-G-M was so pleased with this film's script, it offered Val Lewton a larger budget to be able to replace Deborah Kerr with June Allyson, who was a bigger star at the time. Lewton insisted on keeping Kerr.
Spring Byington (Mrs. Milwright) was almost 63 when this was filmed, and the actors portraying her children were 21 and 7 years old.
According to contemporary articles in the Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter, Van Johnson was originally set to star as Matthew Kinston. A MGM press release even reported filming had begun with Johnson in the cast.