According to author Noah Isenberg in his book "Edgar G. Ulmer: A Filmmaker at the Margins", after production closed and the movie was released, Edgar G. Ulmer wrote to producer Ilse Lahn that "The making of this picture was a nightmare". Its first director, Frank Borzage, quit the movie after two days of work without shooting any footage of relevance and unable to deal with the pressures of the co-production (his ill health may also have been a contributing factor; he died the next year). Shirley Ulmer wrote to the publicity agent of the movie that they did not "want to say anything to hurt the guy, but he sure didn't know what to do--strange language and customs, perhaps". So Ulmer (who was initially producer, screenwriter and set designer) had to step in for Borzage. Isenberg adds that Ulmer had to share a co-director credit with Italian director Giuseppe Masini, who is said never to have set foot on the locations, ostensibly to appease the Italian government, which had helped subsidize the multinational co-production.
This film became a family affair. Director Edgar G. Ulmer's wife, Shirley Ulmer, became the script supervisor and his daughter, Arianne Ulmer, was the dialogue coach.
Future Italian director Mario Caiano served as Edgar G. Ulmer's Assistant Director. He also reportedly did some second unit directing. Caiano would be elevated to the director's chair the following year.
In the United States, the English language version was known as "L'Atlantide", "Journey Beneath the Desert" and "The Lost Kingdom".
Technicolor did a blowup from Technirama for 70mm presentations in some European territories.