John Huston, who had long suffered from emphysema, personally asked Robert Mitchum to take his part in this film after he was hospitalized with pneumonia. Mitchum filmed the role during a break from Remembranzas de guerra (1988).
The Judge in the courtroom scene was an actual Rhode Island Superior Court Judge, not a professional actor. Judge Needham oversaw the first attempted murder trial of Claus von Bulow which took place in Newport, RI in 1982.
The film cast includes one Oscar winner: Anjelica Huston; and three Oscar nominees: Lauren Bacall, Virginia Madsen and Robert Mitchum.