Director Budd Boetticher began shooting this film in 1959. Production delays, financial troubles and other problems resulted in the film not being released until 1972, six years after Carlos Arruza, the subject of the film, had died.
According to Bertrand Tavernier, who was a Boetticher's close friend at this time, Boetticher was in jail in Mexico while preparing Arruza, because he had major financial problems and contracted many debts.