In later interviews, Robert Mitchum admitted that much of the script was made up as they went along.
The film lost $850,000, the amount spent on making the new ending sequences.
RKO had to lower the bottom of the pool on Stage 22 to get the Mexican police submerging to the level required by Howard Hughes.
In his memoirs, Richard Fleischer, who directed the studio-imposed reshoots for the movie, recalled that Robert Mitchum's alcoholism caused a lot of problems for the production. One time when Fleischer was forced to shoot a scene with Mitchum when Mitchum was intoxicated, Mitchum kept pushing off the stuntmen who in the scene were trying to hold him down. Finally, Fleischer told Mitchum that he was making a fool of himself and Fleischer. Mitchum got so angry from this remark, he then proceeded to completely demolish the entire set. The next morning, a then sober Mitchum realized what he had done the previous day while intoxicated, and was extremely remorseful, deeply apologizing to Fleischer for his behavior. Mitchum caused no further problems for the rest of the reshoots.
Nick Ferraro's yacht was built entirely on RKO's Stage 22 - at the time the largest sound stage in the world. Initially, only a bridge set was called for, but studio owner Howard Hughes wanted more fighting scenes and more of everything in the finale, so an entire ship set was built to satisfy his wishes.