Although Dr. Crippen was hanged in 1910, his lover Ethel Le Neve was still alive when this film was released. (She died in 1967.)
Donald Pleasence received the script for this film while he was making Fugindo do Inferno (1963). His friend David McCallum, with whom he was working on that film at the time and lived next door to during filming, told Pleasence not to do the film, but Pleasence accepted the role because he felt it was a good part. He started filming immediately after finishing The Great Escape.
Regarded as the first criminal case where the suspect was apprehended through the use of radio communication.
Hawley Harvey Crippen (1862 - 1910), colloquially known as Dr. Crippen, was an American homeopath, ear and eye specialist who was hanged in November 1910 in Pentonville Prison, London, for the murder of his wife, Cora Henrietta Crippen.
When some friends of Cora reported her missing, a police chief inspector questioned Dr. Crippen who claimed his wife had run away to America. Though the police were satisfied, Dr. Crippen panicked and fled with his lover disguised as a boy to Canada on a passenger ship. He was spotted by the ship's captain who telegraphed to the British authorities. The police chief inspector crossed on a faster ship, and arrived in time to board the Crippen's ship and arrest the two. Had Crippen, a U.S. citizen, landed in the U.S., extradition would have been required. When caught, he reportedly expressed relief from the suspense.
Throughout Dr. Crippen reportedly showed no remorse to the crime, he showed concern for his lover's reputation. They found him guilty of murder in just 27 minutes of deliberations. His lover was charged only with being an accessory after the fact and acquitted.
When some friends of Cora reported her missing, a police chief inspector questioned Dr. Crippen who claimed his wife had run away to America. Though the police were satisfied, Dr. Crippen panicked and fled with his lover disguised as a boy to Canada on a passenger ship. He was spotted by the ship's captain who telegraphed to the British authorities. The police chief inspector crossed on a faster ship, and arrived in time to board the Crippen's ship and arrest the two. Had Crippen, a U.S. citizen, landed in the U.S., extradition would have been required. When caught, he reportedly expressed relief from the suspense.
Throughout Dr. Crippen reportedly showed no remorse to the crime, he showed concern for his lover's reputation. They found him guilty of murder in just 27 minutes of deliberations. His lover was charged only with being an accessory after the fact and acquitted.