Written sporadically between 1935 and 1937, and revised as he traveled back and forth from Spain during the Spanish Civil War, the novel portrays Key West and Cuba in the 1930s, and provides a social commentary on that time and place.

The Great Depression features prominently in the novel, forcing depravity and hunger on the poor residents of Key West (the "Have Nots") who are referred to locally as "Conchs".

[4] The film, directed by Howard Hawks, changed the story's setting from Key West to Martinique under the Vichy regime, and made significant alterations to the plot, including removing themes involving economic inequality and class conflict, and turning the story into a romantic thriller centering on the sparks going on between Harry Morgan and Marie Browning.

The second film version, titled The Breaking Point (1950), was directed by Michael Curtiz and stars John Garfield and Patricia Neal with Juano Hernandez as Morgan's partner.

[8] In 1987 the Iranian director Nasser Taghvai adapted the novel into a nationalized version called Captain Khorshid which took the events from Cuba to the shores of the Persian Gulf.

[9] Season 1 episode 12 ("Fury at Rio Hondo") of the television show Cheyenne is a shorter version of the same story set in Mexico in the Old West, with a screenplay by William Faulkner and James Gunn.