Quiz

The film became an action-comedy after Alan Arkin and James Caan met for improvisational sessions in which they explored a more comedic approach to the characters' relationship.

Alan Arkin commented in a December 23, 1974 "People" magazine news item that he only acted in the film because he needed a paycheck, but felt that it was "absolute garbage."

There's a scene where T.E. Lawrence and Lawrence d'Arabia (1962) is discussed. Coincidentally, Peter O'Toole was such a fan of this movie, that he agreed to read the script for Professione pericolo (1980) when presented at a party by director Richard Rush. O'Toole wound up being Oscar-nominated for his performance in that film.

Director Richard Rush enjoyed little success in Hollywood until Freebie and the Bean and, when he found it, set to work on his most acclaimed film, The Stunt Man (1980), with Peter O'Toole. That film sat in limbo for a couple of years until it found a distributor in 1980 and it wasn't until 14 years later that he directed his next, and last, theatrical release, Color of Night (1994).

Alan Arkin and James Caan threatened to quit the production because they felt that director Richard Rush unwisely prioritized stunts over the relationship between their characters.

Producer/director Richard Rush recalled a difficult moment in which Alan Arkin and James Caan, along with Rush and cinematographer László Kovács, were stuck on a construction elevator at the top of a skyscraper under construction. Caan had a fear of heights and the men had to jump out of the elevator onto the floor below and descend the building's 65 floors via the stairs.

Loretta Swit: As Red Meyers' Wife at the end of the movie.