According to a 1986 Knoxville Journal article, Robert Preston was one of the few people involved in the production who knew how to drive the borrowed 1915 Model-T used in the film, and he wanted it to be used accurately. In one scene the director wanted to have the Model-T parked with the headlights on, but without the motor running. Those vehicles were not equipped with batteries, though, and electricity for lights was supplied by the running motor. The director wanted to have a battery hooked up to the car, but Preston refused, saying that Model-T buffs would notice the inaccuracy if the lamps were lit without the motor running.
The play "All the Way Home" won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1961.
This movie was filmed in the actual Knoxville, Tennessee neighborhood where Agee lived as a boy. Although the old Agee house was torn down during production, a portion of it was shipped to New York for the filming of interior scenes.
The original Broadway production of "All the Way Home" by Tad Mosel opened at the Belasco Theater in New York on November 30, 1960, ran for 333 performances, and was nominated for the 1961 Tony Award (New York City) for the Best Play. The play script was the basis of the screenplay of this filmed production that included Aline MacMahon, Thomas Chalmers, Georgia Simmons, Lylah Tiffany, and Edwin Wolfe, who repeated their roles from the stage production.