Anecdotes

Kenneth Anger shot this film over the course of one weekend, while his parents were out of town.

Following the film's release, Kenneth Anger was arrested on obscenity charges. This ultimately went to the California Supreme Court which threw the case out, declaring the film to be a work of art.

At the 1949 Festival du Film Maudit in Biarritz, France, Jean Cocteau raved about the film, awarding it the Festival's Poetic Film Prize.

Tennessee Williams called the film "the most exciting use of cinema [he'd] ever seen".

Kenneth Anger reckoned the film to be the result of a dream about what was called the Zoot Suit Riots. This was when some flamboyantly dressed Mexican were attacked and stripped by gangs of sailors.