Evelyn Keyes, in her autobiography, thought studio head Harry Cohn deliberately cast her in this film as payback for spurning his advances. She sued Cohn and the studio, settled out of court, and was released from her contract.
Columbia paid director/producer Allen H. Miner $40,000 for the rights to this story, which is based on a real smallpox outbreak in New York City in 1947. Millions of New Yorkers were vaccinated against the disease - without causing panic.
Columbia held the release of this film until after the run of 20th Century-Fox's Panic in the Streets (1950) which has a similar theme.
The $50,000 value of the diamonds would equate to over $580,000 in 2021.