During breaks in filming, James Dean got the local cowboys to teach him how to handle a lariat, as well as his hat, until he could act as if he had been working with them his entire life.
Three days before shooting was scheduled to start, James Dean was entered in an auto race in Palm Springs, California. When producer and director George Stevens found out, he put his foot down and insisted that Dean not be allowed to race until after production was finished.
During the shoot, James Dean appeared in an informal black-and-white television commercial in which he responded to questions posed by actor Gig Young. Ironically, Dean was promoting safe driving and informed viewers, "People say racing is dangerous, but I'd rather take my chances on the track any day than on the highway." Before he left the studio, he added one piece of advice: "Drive safely, because the life you save may be mine." Dean was wearing the same hat and clothing he wore for this movie throughout the commercial. He died a few weeks later in a car crash.
When the production moved to Marfa, Texas, on June 6 for location filming, the Victorian mansion set was shipped from California on six train cars. The set was built on the Evans Ranch, twenty-one miles outside of Marfa, and lashed to four telephone poles to hold it upright. It was really just a façade - three walls with no back, no roof, and no interior. Interiors at the mansion and other Texas locations were filmed at Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, California.
Location filming took place for two months outside of the tiny Texas town of Marfa. Producer and director George Stevens did not have a closed set but actively encouraged the townspeople to come by, either to watch the shooting, visit with the cast and crew, or take part as extras, dialect coaches, bit players, and stagehands.
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