Although most Westerns by this time were being produced in color, Delmer Daves and Charles Lawton Jr. opted to shoot this one in black and white. Lawton used red filters on his lenses, however, to give the landscape an even more starkly parched look, befitting the story's setting amid a lengthy drought.
Approximately 20 to 25 minutes into the film Ben Wade goes to the door of the saloon, and as he looks out, whistles the theme composed for the soundtrack. This is unusual because the soundtrack music for a film is usually composed after filming is completed. The whistling was dubbed afterwards during post-production.
This film, along with the equally allegorical High Noon (1952), was a deciding factor in Howard Hawks deciding to make Rio Bravo (1959), a return to more optimistic, less revisionist Westerns.
Glenn Ford was originally offered the role of Dan Evans. He refused and suggested himself for the role of Ben Wade.
Yuma Territorial Prison in Yuma AZ opened on July 1, 1876, and shut down on September 15, 1909, and housed over 3,000 men and over two dozen women for crimes ranging from murder to polygamy. The site is now operated as a historical museum by Arizona State Parks as Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park.