Film debut of Dyan Cannon. This is her first released film. She made This Rebel Breed (1960) previously, but it was released after this film.
In an interview about the making of this film, cinematographer Lucien Ballard recalled, "We wanted to go for an authentic atmosphere for the 1920s where the film was showing. So after seeing some of the rushes, the producer went to Boetticher [director Budd Boetticher] and said, 'I thought you said Ballard was a great cameraman - this looks like it was shot in 1920!' And Budd said, 'It's SUPPOSED to look like it was shot in 1920!'*
Loosely based on the real-life gangster Jack "Legs" Diamond (1897 - 1931), an Irish-American from Philadelphia who moved to New York to become an associate of top mobster Arnold Rothstein (1882 - 1928).
Although shot in academy 1.37:1 aspect ratio (for later television airing) the theatrical - or *intended* (by the studio, producer, director and/or cinematographer) - aspect ratio of this film is 1.85:1 widescreen. Most modern 16x9 (1.78:1) televisions have a "zoom to width" picture option, essentially allowing the viewer to see it as the director and cinematographer originally planned.
It is easy to spot films shot this way since all the titles and credits will still fit when properly cropped (they stay in the "middle" of the frame), and there is an unusual amount of "headroom" above the actors in medium and close-up shots when viewed uncropped.
Quite often "mistakes" - like seeing equipment in the top or bottom of the uncropped frame - would never have been seen by a theater audience.
The Broadway musical production based on this movie "Legs Diamond" opened at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York on December 26, 1988 and ran for 64 performances.