Trivia

Filmed in Yugoslavia with money put up by a West German porn producer.

According to actor Vadim Glowna, Director Sam Peckinpah drank four whole bottles of whiskey or vodka during every day of shooting while sleeping approximately only three or four hours per night.

At 48, James Coburn was widely felt to be too old to play Corporal Steiner. The man on whom his character was based, Johann Schwerdfeger, was only 28 in the summer of 1943.

Orson Welles said this was the best war movie he had seen since All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). He appreciated that the story was shown from the viewpoint of an ordinary soldier.

A sequel called Breakthrough (1979) followed two years later. Only a couple of lesser known actors from the first movie chose to return for the sequel. The better known actors chose not to play their parts again here, so they were replaced by new actors. James Coburn originally intended to play Steiner in the sequel, but then changed his mind and was replaced by an even older Richard Burton. Every returning character save for Steiner had a much smaller role in the sequel. The budget was smaller as well and the movie was generally received poorly by fans and critics alike.