Trivia: In 2010, on the 50th anniversary of the release of the film a reunion was held at The Alamo Village. Of the main actors only 6 of them were still alive. 69 year old Frankie Avalon was there and five defectors were there with Mrs John Wayne. Richard Widmark (Jim Bowie) had died in 2008.
Trivia: When he was president, John F. Kennedy wanted to see this film so much he went to it in a local cinema wearing a disguise.
Trivia: This film is loosely based on the Scopes Case, where in 1925, a Tennesee subsitute teacher was accused of violating a law that prohibits the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution. This case pitted Christian fundamentalists (who rejected the theory of evolution as they felt it contradict their literal belief of the Bible) against supporters of evolution.
Trivia: Although Lionel Jeffries and John Fraser play father and son in this film, Jeffries was only five years older than Fraser.
Trivia: Esmond P. Knight, the actor who portrayed Captain Leach of the battleship "Prince of Wales" was a crew member on the ship during the real battle where he was badly injured, suffering a period of blindness.