Stewart Granger was originally considered for the lead role. James Stewart, who had worked with director Anthony Mann in eight movies, five of them westerns: "Winchester '73" (1950), "Bend of the River" (1952), "The Naked Spur" (1953), "The Far Country" (1954) and "The Man from Laramie" (1955), eagerly wanted the role. Supposedly, Stewart was extremely upset when Mann didn't give him the script for the film, felt betrayed, and had no interest in working with him ever again, although Mann thought that Stewart would be unfit for the role. Another probable reason why Mann didn't give Stewart the script was that Mann and Stewart had a falling out during the shooting of "Night Passage" (1957). While Mann and Stewart felt that the script of the film need some rewrites, Mann wanted a darker edge for the main character of the film and dropped out of the film because Stewart softened up the character and sang a few songs in the final film, as a showcase for his own accordion playing. With Mann out of the picture, James Neilson took over his position as director. Gary Cooper was eventually cast for the lead role of Link Jones, a former outlaw who is forced to relive his past. This was Cooper's first true western since 1954's "Vera Cruz." He initially felt that he was miscast in the role of the former outlaw because he was twenty years older than the character; Cooper was 56 at the time of filming, the lead character being 36. However, in an interview at the 2008 Cinecon in Hollywood, Mirisch claimed that having just wrapped "Love in the Afternoon", he promptly signed Cooper for another picture, which ended up being this one. He stated that they hadn't even considered a director yet, so Stewart was never a factor.