The novel originally appeared in the summer of 1867 in New London, a British military magazine, before it was published in book form in Dec 1867. Since 1870, a number of plays have been produced that were based on the novel. The Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library contains a statement noting that the most important dramatization had been written by Paul Potter and originally produced in New York on 21 Jan 1901 and that a play by Edward Elsner had also been produced. The legal department cautioned the producers of the film that care should be taken to avoid the use of any material in previous copyrighted dramatizations. According to a HR news item dated 1 Apr 1935, Universal Pictures, which, at that time, owned the motion picture rights to the play, was preparing to make the film. Fox, before they merged with Twentieth Century Pictures, then purchased the motion picture rights to the novel from Universal for $25,000 in May 1935, according to the legal records. Winfield R. Sheehan, at the time Fox's vice-president in charge of production, planned to produce the film. Sheehan subsequently left the company shortly after they merged with Twentieth Century.
       Twentieth Century-Fox planned to have Simone Simon make her American screen debut in the role of "Cigarette," according to a NYT article. Earlier, she had been scheduled to debut in A Message to Garcia, but had been replaced by Rita Cansino (later known as Rita Hayworth), who subsequently herself was replaced by Barbara Stanwyck. According to NYT, after two weeks of shooting in the studio on this film, director Frank Lloyd, unhappy with Simon's temperamental attitude and wary of what might happen with her during location shooting in the desert, demanded that she be fired. The studio acceded to his wishes, the footage shot with her was scrapped, and after Claudette Colbert was hired to replace her at a substantially higher salary, press reports were sent out stating that Simon was leaving the picture because of illness, according to NYT. According to the legal records, the insurance company Lloyd's of London paid the studio $115,000 for a release from all claims due to the illness of Simon, delays or additional expenses incurred in substituting Colbert.
       According to a news item, a ten-acre Arabian desert village was built on the Twentieth Century-Fox Westwood lot, and the battle sequences were filmed in the California-Arizona desert eighteen miles from Yuma using Hollywood extras, local cowpunchers and Yuma Indians. News items noted that the company planned to spend forty-two days shooting at Palm Springs, CA and Yuma. According to the legal records, some shooting also took place at Palm Canyon, CA. According to a HR news item, at the end of 1935, the unit at Palm Springs split into four parts briefly: Frank Lloyd directed Ronald Colman and Victor McLaglen at Palm Canyon; Ad Schaumer directed Simone Simon at Indio; Ben Silvey directed a third unit; and Jasper Blystone directed process shots at La Quinta. A NYT news item called the production "the most expensive location trip to emerge from Hollywood in ten years." NYT estimated that the cost of the film, which was budgeted at $1,250,000, would probably rise to $1,500,000 before its completion. Otto Brower, who directed the battle scenes in the desert, was known for having earlier directed serials. According to news items, the desert set was near the site where Beau Geste, produced in 1926 by Famous Players-Lasky (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.0307), was filmed, and that Selznick International's The Garden of Allah, filmed later in 1936 (see above), was filmed at the same location. A DV news item noted that 212 war veterans were signed to play a Foreign Legion regiment.
       According to publicity for the film, during one scene in which Steve Clemente, a Yaqui Indian professional knife-thrower, was supposed to hit a post next to Ronald Colman, the crowding in of extras caused the knife to be deflected, and Colman was hit in the chest with the handle. In her autobiography, Rosalind Russell states that she did not meet Colbert during the production; however, in the film, she can be seen in shots together with Colbert. News items from Jun and Jul 1935 stated that Warner Baxter, Bill Robinson, Slim Summerville and Edward Everett Horton were to be in the film, but they ultimately were not involved in the production. According to a NYT news item, both John Ford and Frank Lloyd were outraged that Darryl Zanuck cut their films, The Prisoner of Shark Island and this one, respectively, and declared that they would never go to the Twentieth Century-Fox lot again. While Ford subsequently did direct for Twentieth Century-Fox, Lloyd did not. Other films based on the same source include the 1916 Fox Film Corp. production directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Theda Bara, and the 1922 film produced by Universal, directed by Tod Browning and starring Priscilla Dean (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-20; F1.4648 and AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.5949).