Sidney Poitier had a miserable experience filming in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. It was April, 1963, and allegedly, the mood was gloom, the locals seemed hostile, and the weather was freezing. Poitier said: ''I have been spending hours on the set, dreaming about tropical climates and little shacks on pink beaches.''
Richard Widmark turned the film down four times before finally agreeing to do it on the condition that good friend Sidney Poitier do the part of the villain, a piece of casting that producers initially objected to.
The leather armor worn by Russ Tamblyn (Orm) is one of the most recycled costumes in cinema history. It has been worn by Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000), as well as Vikings (2013), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and many more.
This film, at the time, was considered the first major motion picture released in America where a Black man played the villain. The Pawnbroker (1964), with Brock Peters as a mobster, was released ten months later.
The actual "Golden Bell" prop from the film is located in the Montenegrin town of Budva (Montenegro was formerly part of Yugoslavia where the film was shot) just outside the gates to the old town.
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