This cinema released movie was originally planned to be made for television telemovie but was made for theatrical release due to the success of Colleen McCullough's The Thorn Birds (1983) and to the novelist's general popularity in the 1980s because of this mini-series.
The film utilizes an oft-used storyline of the war movie genre which has two soldiers in love with the same girl.
Authoress Colleen McCullough described her 'An Indecent Obsession' source novel to this film as "My book, 'Indecent Obsession', was about duty" and she also once described it as a "whodunnit".
This was the third film based on a novel by Australian author Colleen McCullough after Tim (1979) and The Thorn Birds (1983).
The meaning and relevance of this movie's title An Indecent Obsession (1985) is explained in the film's dialogue. A soldier enlists in the military out of ignorance and then stays their out of duty. This is the indecent obsession.