Marschier oder stirb

When Gene Hackman started having back pain, the movie's insurance company refused to allow shooting to continue because a permanent injury to Hackman could have cost it a lot of money. The insurers suggested shooting the movie in the United States, but sand dunes in Nevada were not the same color as sand dunes in Agadir. Several big American transport planes were used to transport tons of sand from the Agadir dunes in to camouflage the sand of Nevada. (Source: Beyond Casablanca, Page 131).

The Legionnaires wear prewar dark blue uniforms and greatcoats. The French Foreign Legion adopted a khaki field uniform in 1907.

The one major network showing of "March or Die" was considerably different from the original release, with a great deal of additional footage and a completely different ending. At the end of the original release Marco (Hill) gives a rousing speech to replacement Legionnaires, which is word-for-word the same speech Foster (Hackman) gave recruits near the beginning of the film. (To potential deserters: "If the Legion doesn't get you, the Arabs will. If the Arabs don't get you, the desert will. And if the desert doesn't get you... I will.) A caravan is leaving the fort behind Marco as he gives his speech. The original release ends on this note, implying that Marco has stepped into Foster's shoes as loyal Legion commander. In the network showing, after Marco delivers his speech, we see Marco deserting. He has slipped into Arab garb and joined the caravan leaving the fort. The Sergeant-Major is shown smiling at him, implying that he is complicit in Marco's desertion. Also in the network showing: A fierce desert battle between a legion column and Arab raiders. The entire battle is deleted from the original release. The column is led by the mean Lieutenant. In one scene, the mean Lieutenant is shown placing a pistol to his head and committing suicide. The scene does not appear in the original release. In addition, in the original release, the footage of the mean Lieutenant firing his pistol during the column's battle with raiders, is edited into the final battle scene at the archaological dig. The effect is quite jarring, as he has not been present for about a third of the film.

Featured in 42nd Street Forever, Volume 4: Cooled by Refrigeration (2009)