The film was originally to take place during WWII and the main characters were originally black and Jewish, and often subject to discrimination by the crew. The U.S. military did not like this and demanded changes by writer/director Cy Roth. Infuriated by this, Roth wrote a scathing letter to his congressman and President Dwight D. Eisenhower; unfortunately for Roth, this was the period of the McCarthy-era "Red Scare", and the letter got him branded as a "Communist" and he was blacklisted in the industry. In the end, Roth accepted the changes requested.