George Sanders claimed that he was "filled with foreboding from the start", making this film, adding that it was "deficient in what I might call the serious approach to film-making". He said the film company had rented a 60-foot cabin cruiser which the actors and crew boarded each morning at the yacht club in Palma, on Mallorca; it then put to sea and cruised around until a suitable location was found. This wasted a great deal of time, making the film exceed its eight-week schedule; it was still unfinished after five months. At this point, Sanders announced he was leaving the film, noting that he had not been fully paid for the work thus far completed. He departed for Barcelona, but, once there, was persuaded to return by a distraught assistant director who had formerly served (Sanders claimed) in the Hungarian diplomatic corps. This departure had the effect of hurrying everything up, although it was still two more months before the film was finished; after that, it proved to be a huge financial flop and was very little-shown in Europe or America.
Despite the fact that George Sanders made no attempt whatsoever to moderate his ultra-English accent, the character he plays is referred to several times as an American, although this has no relevance to the plot.
George Sandres was so bored during the production of the movie that he ate more than usual and added weight, which is visible in the film, if you watch closely enough.