The film was produced by
Robert L. Lippert's Associated Producers Incorporated, which produced lower-budget films for
20th Century Fox. Lippert bought the rights to the book and arranged for
Hubert Cornfield to adapt and direct. Lippert and Fox president
Spyros Skouras increased the budget to a level that co-producer
Maury Dexter described as a "nervous A class" of film. The film was shot in and around
Los Angeles and
Malibu in October 1959. According to Dexter, during filming, Cornfield accused O'Brien of not knowing his lines and O'Brien threatened to punch Cornfield on the last day of filming, though this may not have happened. ==Reception==