The film was shot in Mexico (apparently one of the first Hollywood
studio films after WWII to move out of the backlot).  It did star
Bogie, Walter Huston, and Tim Holt, but even more interesting than
the movie or the novel is B. Traven himself.  He was a mysterious
writer who lived in Mexico and who no one knew the true identity of;
even John Huston, who tried to contact him to talk about the script,
couldn't meet him in person (or did he?).  I highly recommend that
anyone interested in "true life mysteries" read about Traven; a good
sampling of the background of the man and his relation to the movie
is in Huston's autobiography "An Open Book."  There are numerous
other books that try to uncover the truth behind Traven (many of
which disagree with Huston's assessment).  It's sort of like the JFK
assassination thing: there are so many little facts that people try
to put together into a complete picture, but somehow there's still
an elusive piece missing.
 
Jay Rozgonyi
Media Librarian
Fairfield University
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