This film is based on a real-life incident that happened July 26, 1938, in New York City. John William Warde, 26, after a 12 hour standoff, leaped 17 floors to his death from the ledge outside a room at the Gotham Hotel.
The film was shelved for six months because the daughter of Fox exec Spyros P. Skouras leaped to her death on the very day the film was previewed. By the time of its eventual release, some Spyros-mandated compromises were made to the film's storyline.
Richard Basehart's wife, costume designer Stephanie Klein, was diagnosed with a brain tumour during filming in May and June 1950, and died following brain surgery during production of the film that July.
A nonprofessional performer named Richard Lacovara doubled for Richard Basehart in long shots on the ledge, which had been enlarged to minimize the risk of falling. Lacovara was protected by a canvas life belt hidden under his costume, connected to a lifeline, Even with the double, Basehart still had to endure over 300 hours of standing on the ledge with little movement during the 50 days of shooting in New York, even though he had a sprained ankle and his legs were ravaged by poison oak contracted on the grounds of his Coldwater Canyon home.