According to Kirk Douglas in his autobiography "The Ragman's Son", he agreed to act in this film for free, in order to end his contract with Warner Bros. He later said, "It's a bad movie."
As of 2002, the rights to this film became public domain, and DVD copies that were "digitally remastered" began appearing in 99 Cent stores in LA area in 2004.
Apart from Kirk Douglas working for free, Warner Brothers also saved money on the picture by reusing footage from Valley of the Giants (1938).
"Yukon" Burns is buried in a Quaker cemetery, which contains many graves built close to the trunks of big trees. How these graves could be dug to a reasonable depth with the huge roots they must have had is not explained.
In the same year, Kirk Douglas starred in "The Big Sky". Though the stories were unconnected, in both films Douglas's character was named Jim. Both films also contain a prominent character known as "Frenchie".