After filming was completed, Sammy Davis Jr. asked for and received permission to put on a show for the inmates. The warden set two conditions: no racial jokes (which could start a riot) and no sex jokes (for obvious reasons). Four thousand inmates attended the show, Davis told no racial or sex jokes, and the show went off with no trouble.
The prisoners who acted as extras were paid in cigarettes instead of cash. The prison warden had to establish a "cigarette bank", because the prison's barter economy would be severely disrupted by the more than 500,000 cigarettes paid.
Based on the autobiography of John Resko (1911-1991) who was convicted of murder at age 19 and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to life by President Franklin Roosevelt after a letter writing campaign. According to an article in the 22 September 1960 edition of Daily Variety, Resko visited the Allied Artists studios to meet with writer-director Millard Kaufman to offer technical advice on the film, for which he received an additional "technical advisor" credit.
The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Rod Steiger, Broderick Crawford and Jack Albertson; and two Oscar nominees: Stuart Whitman and Jack Kruschen.