At the time of its release, many critics commented favorably on director Samuel Fuller's artistic decision to concentrate on the feet of the participants in the "run of the arrow" rather than showing them in their entirety. In an interview, Fuller said there was a very simple reason for his decision: star Rod Steiger had badly sprained his ankle just before the scene was to be shot and wasn't able to walk, let alone run, so Fuller got one of the Indian extras who was built somewhat like Steiger to run in his place, which is why he shot only feet instead of close-ups or medium shots.
One of the first movies to used blood squibs to simulate gunshot wounds
This was completed in mid-June 1956, but not released until mid-July 1957.
The film was originally distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, but afterwards Universal-International bought it from RKO and distributed it.