Robert Taylor himself protested, after the fact, that he had had to make the film under duress, as he was under contract to MGM. This is the rationale he used to explain why he was a friendly witness during the HUAC hearings in the 1950s. Russian-born director Gregory Ratoff testified that Taylor was telling the truth and that Taylor had explicitly protested about the aforementioned aspect of the film but had been told by MGM to "just do the picture" or else he would liable for breach of contract.