The film originally went into production in 1943 with Rossellini as director under the title Scarlo Merci ("Freight Yard"). Rossellini planned to shoot at the railway yards in San Lorenzo in Rome, but these were hit by a heavy Allied bombing raid the night before filming was due to start. He switched shooting to the comparative safety of the Abruzzo hills, but after the Fall of the Fascist regime financing dried up and Rossellini halted the shoot in September 1943. After the Liberation of Rome, Marcello Pagliero relaunched the production and took over direction of the film. Now retitled Rinuncia ("Renunciation") it had had censorship issues and with several scenes cut it was finally released as "Desire".