Burt Lancaster plays a caring brother in a family who defends the adopted sister who is looked down upon by neighbors because of her skin color and possible racial difference.
Audrey Hepburn suffered a miscarriage a few months after being thrown from a horse while filming this movie. In some scenes, director John Huston used a double for Hepburn since she was in the hospital for six weeks.
Veteran actress Lillian Gish, who played the mother of the Zachary family, was able to shoot quite well before filming began. That may be a factor in her appearing so comfortable around guns.
Audie Murphy had already starred in a movie directed by John Huston and had written his autobiography and had starred in a box-office record-breaking film To Hell and Back which was the film version of his autobiography. His movie held that record for twenty years.
Murphy’s acting career came after he was announced as the most-decorated WWII combat soldier. Murphy was turned down by Navy, Marines & Paratroopers when he applied for service. He was thought of as unfit for combat as a new private. But according to Arlington National Cemetery records, traffic to Murphy’s grave is second only to President John Kennedy.
