It was shot in late February 1943 to late June 1943, but because of the overload of war-related movies, they pushed the release to 1945.
Executive Producer Jack L. Warner purchased the rights to the novel with the hopes to star Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn but scheduling conflicts with both performers caused them to turn down the project.
This was one of the last productions to film at Busch Gardens in Pasadena, California before it was auctioned off in early April 1943.
Due to wartime rationing shortages, most of the vegetables in the New Orleans, Louisiana market scene were fake.
The word "trunk" refers to a railroad's main line - a trunk line - in this case, between Albany and Binghamton, New York on the Delaware and Hudson.