James Dean has a one-line bit as a spoiled student. His scene is with Charles Coburn who plays a soda jerk.
The exterior of the mansion the Blaisdells buy is the Chartwell Mansion in Bel-Air, CA. A decade later, it became famous as the home of "The Beverly Hillbillies."
In the library scene, Millie approaches Dan and asks: "What are you reading?", to which he responds: "'It'. Something which I evidently haven't got." Millie responds: "Why, I think you have, Dan. I think you have lots of 'it'". This is a reference to Elinor Glyn's 1927 novel 'It'. Glyn popularized the word 'it' as a euphemism for 'sex appeal'.
The film cast includes one Oscar winner: Charles Coburn; and three Oscar nominees: James Dean, Piper Laurie and Rock Hudson.
Though Piper Laurie is pictured with Rock Hudson on the cover of the recent DVD she is not identified by name and not billed on the packaging. The name of the child-actress Gigi Perreau who played her sister is featured instead.