 William Holden (I) (qv) and Richard Widmark (qv) became good  friends during the production of the film. When Widmark became ill  with the flu and was confined to his room, Holden bought him a snare  drum because he knew Widmark played the drums. Widmark later  remarked, "That four months of being constantly together on a film  location was the equivalent of ten or fifteen years of friendship."