It is based on the 1945 novel Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque, which he wrote during his nine-year exile in the United States.

Milestone and Harry Brown created their own version, which was preferred by the producers and Ingrid Bergman.

[5] William Conrad, in his fourth film, has a small, important (uncredited) role as a policeman.

[5] The head of the MPAA's Production Code Administration at the time, Joseph Breen, made the studio tone down the violence in the script.

Breen also objected to the fact that the murder went unpunished, but he relented on the basis that it was a war story.

[5] In 1984, Charles E. Israel adapted the novel for British television, with Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Ravic, Donald Pleasence as von Haake, Lesley-Anne Down as Joan Madou and Frank Finlay as Boris Morosov.