The movie is based on the novel by Leon Uris, who also wrote the screenplay, and was produced and directed by Raoul Walsh. It received an Academy Award nomination for Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
Film debut of L.Q. Jones (billed under his real name of "Justus E. McQueen"; he took his character's name in this film as his real name after this film was released).
When the unit first comes under enemy air attack, the path of explosions on the ground take a sharp turn from the left to follow the men along the road. It is physically impossible for any plane to turn sharply enough to leave that sharp a pattern on the ground
Most of the trees at Pat Rogers' family farm seem to be Australian Eucalyptus trees, including the tree Andy chops down. These are quite common as an introduced species in California, but certainly not in New Zealand.