The novel and the film are inspired by the life of vaudeville actress Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-1868).
Michael Rennie originally bought the rights in 1957 and set up a production company with Louis L'Amour. They originally intended for Marlene Dietrich and then Anne Baxter to star.
Final theatrical film for both Ramon Novarro and Edmund Lowe. Lowe retired, but Novarro continued to act on television for the remainder of his career.
Actor Ken Clark, a close friend of writer DeWitt Bodeen, brought Louis L'Amour's book to Bodeen's attention. Bodeen, a friend of director George Cukor, told him about the book, which Cukor read and was enthusiastic about. Bodeen was to write the script with L'Amour himself, but L'Amour wanted more money than the studio was willing to pay and was not hired. The final screenplay is signed Dudley Nichols and Walter Bernstein. Cukor thanked Clark by casting him as a soldier warning the traveling company about the presence of Indians in the area.
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