Some exterior scenes were shot on location in the United States at Sedona, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, and Death Valley in California.

The film juxtaposes the "easy" money of gold-digging with the wealth and values created by hard work, as the gold rush eventually destroys Sutter's fortunes while promoting social disintegration and the loss of solidarity and companionship.

In the final scene the aged and impoverished Sutter is shown in Washington, D.C., where he has a vision of America's future industrial might, seeing a land full of skyscrapers and factories.

Trenker had previously directed Der verlorene Sohn (The Prodigal Son, 1934), the story of an Alpine immigrant in New York City, which is the only other film produced in Nazi Germany with scenes photographed on location in the United States.

[2] When the film was released in the United States, The New York Times gave it a positive review on May 8, 1937.