In an interview, Bruce Davison recalled how he got the part of Lt. DeBuin: "I went in to see [director] Robert Aldrich (I) and said, 'Mr. Aldrich, you have no idea how much The Sand Pebbles (1965) meant to me'. He said, 'Thanks, kid, but Robert Wise (I) made that film. But you're just dumb enough, you have the part".
Although technically not credited as such, Burt Lancaster was virtually a producer on the film, helping bring it to screen, taking a percentage instead of an upfront salary and having a say in the editing stages.
The UK DVD release has been re-edited to remove all instances of horses being trip-wired. According to the British Board of Film Classification, such a tactic contravenes the 1937 Cinematograph Act (following the carnage of the flying W in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)), which forbids the ill treatment of any animal in the making of a film (although some stuntmen claim that the method can be performed without harming any horses).
Filmed for $1.2 million in only seven weeks, a good three to four weeks less than most of Robert Aldrich's movies.
Robert Aldrich privately admitted that he wasn't entirely satisfied with the way the film turned out.