Curiosidades

The camera techniques of this movie utilizes a lot of long lenses, long tracking shots, fast film, out-of-focus shots, backlighting, Louma crane shots, and steadicam whilst production design is garnered with a large use of variations of the colour red as a thematic motif. Production Designer Brian Thomson once said of this: "We chose the colour red for what it is: it's passion, anger . . . The interesting thing is Bob Herbert's stage directions for the play actually say that it takes place at 'the red end of the experiential spectrum'."

This film is based on the non-musical stage play "No Names . . . No Packdrill" by Bob Herbert who also co-wrote this movie's screenplay. The play, when it premiered in Sydney, Australia in 1980, starred Mel Gibson and Noni Hazlehurst. The play's title was for a time a working title for this film. This film's producer, Phillip Emanuel, became aware of the play at this Sydney debut.

The film's chief producer, Phillip Emanuel, originally conceived the lead two parts to be played by Olivia Newton-John, who was an Australian singer-actress who had appeared in the box-office hit musical Grease: Nos Tempos da Brilhantina (1978) as well as Xanadu (1980), and Kevin Bacon, who was a new American star who had recently become hot from starring in the American music film Footloose: Ritmo Louco (1984). Apparently, Olivia Newton-John was not available to do this movie. Instead, the lead parts went to Australian singer Debra Byrne and Matt Dillon.

The movie's central female character Kathy McLeod was a mail-sorting postal worker in the original source play but her profession was changed to a nightclub singer in an all-girl band for this movie. This was done as part of this movie's commercial strategy.

The original conception of this movie was a straight period piece adaption of its source play "No Names. No Packdrill" and was originally going to be known by this title. This play is non-musical. The film was re-conceptualized during pre-production and became a wartime romance musical.