- The film is dedicated to Dan Blocker. Robert Altman, who had directed many early episodes of "Bonanza" (1959), had originally cast his friend Blocker in the role of Roger Wade, but he died before filming commenced. The role subsequently was filled by Sterling Hayden.
- Screenwriter Leigh Brackett co-wrote the script for the classic The Big Sleep (1946), also based on a Raymond Chandler novel and featuring Philip Marlowe, 27 years earlier.
- The movie's ending, different from the source novel, is usually attributed to director Robert Altman. It actually appeared in Leigh Brackett's original script, written before Altman signed on. Altman liked the new ending so much that he insisted on a clause in his contract that guaranteed the ending wouldn't be changed during production or editing.
- When the police are responding to the suicide of Roger Wade, Phillip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) becomes irate that they don't believe that Roger Wade could have murdered Terry Lennox' wife. He yells that he's going to call Ronald Reagan (then the governor) to protest their inaction. In the very next scene, Marlowe is brought to Marty Augustine's office for a shakedown. One of Augustine's bodyguards is an uncredited Arnold Schwarzenegger, later elected Governor of California. Thus Marlowe, in a way, gets to meet the governor.
- Morris the Cat first did his "finicky" routine in this film.
- Except for "Hooray for Hollywood" at the beginning and at the end, all the music in this film is different arrangements of the theme tune.
- Elliott Gould improvised the scene in police custody in which he smears fingerprint ink all over his face.
- The location for Sterling Hayden's home was actually Robert Altman's home at the time.
- Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond tried to approximate human vision through the post-production technique of exposing the undeveloped negative to additional pure light, which literally dampens blacks and softens intense colors until they become pastel hues.
- John Williams and Johnny Mercer's title song crops up in various guises throughout the film, including on the radio, as a dirge played at a funeral by a Mexican marching band, and even as the first couple of notes of the Wades' doorbell.
- Although Sterling Hayden was Robert Altman's reluctant second choice to play Wade, the director was thrilled with his performance.
- To help establish with the cast and crew the kind of tone he was trying to create, Robert Altman circulated on the set a little-known letter that Raymond Chandler had written, as well as his essay collection "Raymond Chandler Speaking". Both pieces are notable for revealing Chandler's underlying suicidal tendencies.
- Originally released in Los Angeles with a poster campaign more appropriate to James Bond movies, or the Flint spoof series, the film made little impact in the City of Angels. A different advertising campaign was designed for its New York release, where it was a considerable success.
- This was Nina Van Pallandt's first English-language film.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger has no lines in the film.
- The camera is always moving, there are no static shots in the movie.
- In the commentary on the DVD, Robert Altman talks about how sad he was that Leigh Brackett, the screenwriter, died before the film was released and never saw the completed work. In fact Bracket died in 1979, shortly after completing the first draft of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) for George Lucas, and thus lived long enough to see the finished film.
- The "Hooray for Hollywood" music at the beginning and end of the film is a promotional trailer for an RKO film made in 1937 (Hooray for Hollywood (1937)) featuring the Benny Goodman Orchestra. The members of the orchestra are the male voices singing, and the voice saying "Be an actor, see Mr. Factor, he'll make your kisser look good" belongs to drummer Gene Krupa. The actual promo film itself is featured in the documentary Benny Goodman: Adventures in the Kingdom of Swing (1977).
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: Elliott Gould lights a cigarette in every single scene he appears in in the movie, except the last where he visits Terry Lennox in Mexico.
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