Jack Palance was originally hired for the role of "Mr. Brown", but after clashing with the producers (because they would not cast his wife in the film per an article in the 13 August 1954 edition of Daily Variety), he left the production. Before leaving he recommended they hire Richard Conte to replace him, which they did.
The film was considered very daring for its time. Cornel Wilde's detective character is clearly having a casual sexual relationship with Helene Stanton's Rita, while the film quite openly implies that the two henchmen played by Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman are in a homosexual relationship.
In what is arguably this film's most memorable scene, the weapon with which Richard Conte's character so effectively bludgeons Cornel Wilde's protagonist (albeit unbearably--and unforgettably--hearing-aid-enhanced) is the uncredited, off-screen contribution of the then hugely popular L.A.-based jazz ensemble Shorty Rogers and His Giants, and in particular the excellent--but in this case literally deafening--drum solo of Shelly Manne.