The production camp was in a little known western Texan backwater township of Latijas which had a population of around only twelve people. The Texas town was a former desert trading post stop and was General "Black Jack" Pershing's headquarters during military campaign fighting against the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The production shoot in Latijas went for four weeks. That's Lajitas, TX.

During production two technicians and a woman were killed in an after-hours vehicle accident.

Willie Nelson had read only two pages of the film's screenplay when he decided he wanted to do the movie. Nelson exclaimed: "I want to be this guy" [Barbarosa].

The picture's shooting location in Big Bend National Park was reputed to be around the time the film was made and released to be the most remote filming location ever used for an American movie.

High temperatures in Texas had a scorching effect on the production with the heat staying hot right into the evening. Shooting in such a remote location there also meant there was no television, air-conditioning and telephones whilst crew had to cram into rooms for their lodgings.

Continuity

(at around 1 min) Willie meets Gary for the first time with his gun drawn on him. Seconds later a gunman charges Willie and Willie has to draw his gun to shoot the man down.

When Barbarosa and Karl start to climb the cliff, it is a cliff that rises in front of level ground. But as they climb, there is now a river at the base of the cliff and that river have carved a canyon, with a cliff on either side. When Karl goes back down the cliff to get the money he had earlier thrown down, he falls into the river. But when he climbs out of the river, there is now flat ground on one side of the river where there had earlier been a cliff (and on what had once been the far side of the canyon).



Anachronisms

There is no tractor pulling something as the horse racers round the home stretch. It is clearly a wagon pulled by horses. They actually did a good job of having it in the background in the three quick shots that showed the racers.

In the scene where the race contestants approach the finish line where Willie and Gary have stopped to watch, just as the riders round the curve to the finish, you can see a farm tractor pulling something behind the racers.