As a World War II combat veteran, Stewart had vowed never to make a war film, concerned they were rarely realistic. "The Mountain Road" was the only war movie set during World War II in which he starred as a combatant. Stewart, however, had been featured in a wartime short, "Winning Your Wings" (1942) and in a civilian role in "Malaya" (1949). Harry Morgan, another cast member in "The Mountain Road", later said he believed that Stewart made an "exception for this film because it was definitely anti-war."