According to Kim Hunter: "The tensions on the set contributed to his [Rossen's] death. I don't think I want to talk about it. Since then, Warren has grown so; at that time, he wasn't ready to be a star. He knew it and was scared! In rehearsal, he'd be great. The closer he got to the camera, the more he'd retreat. He'd cut half his lines, which made Warren interesting and the rest of us talky as hell! He gave Jean no help whatsoever. She was damn good in a demanding role. At the wrap party, a group of people threw Warren into a stream".
The film received such a hostile reaction from US critics that an aggrieved Robert Rossen pulled it out of contention at the Venice Film Festival and delayed its release in the UK by two years.
Robert Rossen was dying when he made this film and many regard it as an act of expiation for his behaviour during the McCarthy witch hunts in the 50s when he was a leading friendly witness.
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