Although heavily Hollywoodized, the film is based on real individuals and events. There is a boutique hotel in Yap named after him (O'Keefe's), and the style of construction reflects the architecture of O'Keefe's time.
Because of cost overruns on The Crimson Pirate (1952) and this film, Warner Brothers insisted that future films from Hecht/Lancaster be limited to $900,000. Burt Lancaster's and Harold Hecht's response was to strike a new deal with United Artists.
William Henry "Bully" Hayes (1829-77) was a South Seas pirate born in Cleveland, OH. He ran trading missions throughout the South Pacific (including the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Australia), specializing in rum and rifles, but he was not averse to "blackbirding" (slaving). He was killed after a violent disagreement and his body was thrown into the ocean. His murderer was never brought to justice.
The British print has a Robert Farnon score conducted by Louis Levy, re-scored in Hollywood by Dimitri Tiomkin. Both versions are occasionally screened on British television.
In October 1952, early into filming in Fiji, realism led to six stitches over Burt Lancaster's right eye. He was jousting with actor Charles Horvath in accepted South Sea style, using a Fiji Island spear when the accident occurred. Shooting was halted until the laceration healed.
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