Anecdotes

The second of Universal-International's 3-D films directed by Jack Arnold (the first was Le météore de la nuit (1953)), this movie was tested in both 2-D and 3-D. Audiences did not prefer the 3-D version and (as a result of sub-standard projection of the stereoscopic 3-D process and the resulting prejudice against 3-D) many preferred the 2-D, flat version of the film. The 3-D version was rarely, if ever shown. There is no evidence that the 3-D version ever opened commercially in Los Angeles and may not even have been shown in New York or other major cities. A 3-D print does exist today, proving (in addition to the studio records) that the film was completed in that format. It premiered in Hollywood 50 years after its production, on 17 September 2003 at 3D Film Expo at the Egyptian Theatre with Kathleen Hughes (Miss 3D) in attendance.

Edward G. Robinson was one of the greatest collectors of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art of the twentieth century. In the year the movie was released, 40 of his paintings were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. In this movie, several of them hang in the living room of the character he plays, who is also an art lover, though it strains credulity to be told that they include a Cezanne. At the time, a Cezanne would have cost about $50,000. The character makes $150 a week.

Among the real-life actors whose photos are hanging on the wall of Markson's office are Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler and Shelley Winters.

Edward G. Robinson's character, Henry Hayes, is an art collector, just as he was in real life.