Director King Vidor's own ranch in Pasa Robles, California was used as a filming location for the Nolan Ranch.
Versatile character actor Frank Cady plays the knowledgeable gas station attendant. He played many parts over a long career, in everything from Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) to TV's Green Acres (1965), probably his most famous role.
Warner Bros. bought the rights to the novel in 1945. The film was produced in early 1950 but not released until March 1951.
The Joshua Trees shown are native to the Southwest Mojave Desert. A member of the lily family (and so not a tree at all), they are found in the high desert around Victorville, CA, one of the filming locations.
The terrain around the King Vidor ranch is quite different from that of the Tumble Moon establishment. That's because Vidor's beautiful mid-century spread was located in Pasa Robles, in the hills between the central California coast and the San Joaquin Valley, and not in the high desert around Victorville. The two locations are nearly 250 miles apart.