Fascinating trivia (and any goofs) connected with the film
- Young Manoel is only about 10 when he's forced to leave his village. Older Manoel is declared to be "about 21" (Sabu was 23) during the rest of the film. But he says to Teresa that only a year ago he knew nothing of the white man.
- Director Derek Twist read Desmond Holdridge's novel by accident. When lying on a sick bed, his children's nanny had the job of supplying him with current crime fiction from the village library. When the who-dun-it section had been exhausted, nanny found what she thought was an obvious choice in another section, "Death of a Common Man". Deciding it was the film story he had always wanted to direct, Twist indoctrinated Michael Powell with the same enthusiasm. It was his first job as a director.
- Location shots were taken during a three-month trip to Brazil. This included a two-week stay with the Arekuna Indians in the remote savannah land on the borders of North Brazil and British Guiana, near Mount Roraima; and a 1,000 mile trip by river steamer down the Amazon from Manaos to Belem de Para.
- The film includes authentic shots of the Festa de Nazareth which is held annually in Belem during the last fortnight of October. These were taken with the kind co-operation of the Padre of the Nazareth Basilica.
- Thorn, the 6-year-old Alsatian who leads gold-prospectors Jones (Robert Douglas) & Harrigan (Orlando Martins) to the exhausted Manoel, was the recipient of an Animal V.C. (the Dickin Medal). This was awarded for the Civil Defence work he carried out after a V.2 attack in Potters Bar. He has also been used for mine detecting, police work, demonstrations and he has even been in radio broadcasts.
- The workers in the camp under the control of the wicked Dantos (Esmond Knight) are tapping Balata, a natural, non-elastic latex material used as an insulator (at the time).
- The river boat 'Tupan' was played by the 'Aripuana'
- The indegenous peoples that played the characters in the early scenes were drawn from the Arekuna and Patamonas tribes of British Guiana (as it was then) and some Brazilian tribes along the border.
Because of the activities of some missionaries in the area, they all had Christian names which are recorded below (I can't record them in the IMDb because they weren't credited on screen).
They were played by:
| Manoel's Mother | Lydia
|
| Manoel's big brother | Matthew
|
| Ruri | Angela #1
|
| Village girl | Angela #2
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| Village girl | Mina
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| Young Manoel | Eurice
|
| Mister | Baggitt
|
- The working title for the film was Green Days and Blue Days. The studio publicity material had a quote from Songs of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson:
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight,
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a place fit for you and me,
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.
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