Quizz communicates with his mother and Janet through dreams in which he asks them whether he and his friends should stay with their guns to sacrifice themselves by covering the withdrawing American troops or leave by boat for a chance of survival.

[3] A London stage version was directed by Gabriel Pascal, with many of the roles played by American servicemen posted in England.

[7] The film was directed by John M. Stahl with Michael O'Shea, George Matthews, Joann Dolan, Joven E. Rola and Toni Favor repeating their original stage roles.

[8] To comply with the Motion Picture Production Code, the script was modified to avoid the play's sexual references and language.

The film originally included the play's closing scene, but it was overwhelmingly rejected by war-weary test-screening audiences.