The movie was originally to be shot in black and white, and some scenes had already been filmed that way, when the studio decided to switch to color. The official explanation at the time was that Twentieth Century-Fox, which owned the wide-screen CinemaScope process, had ordered that all films shot in the process had to be in color, but some also believe that Warners ordered the switch to head off comparisons with Blackboard Jungle (1955) and because James Dean's increasing popularity gave the film more prestige. Another film MGM's Trial (1955) was also slated to be shot at the same time in black and white CinemaScope. Due to the same demand it skipped that process and shot in standard widescreen black and white instead.