The tail number of James' dummy plane, NC54860, was a number assigned to a North American AT-6B owned by MGM at the time. The smuggling plane, marked NC80356, was in reality used on a 1946 Beech D-18S bought by MGM for use by Robert Taylor and his wife Barbara Stanwyck. Taylor named that plane "Missy" - his nickname for Stanwyck.
At the beginning, Pete is seen entering a large stone building with "Policia Nacional Jefatura" engraved over the entrance; this translates as "National Police Headquarters". Since the Castro revolution, the entryway has been re-engraved "Policia Nacional Revolucionaria Comandancia General".
(at around 6 mins) The S.S. Joseph R. Parrott, a railroad car ferry that ran between Havana and Palm Beach, Florida is seen in the background. It was owned by the West India Fruit and Steamship Company and named for Joseph Robinson Parrott (1858-1913) who was president of the Forida East Coast Railway. Built in 1916, she was requisitioned by the U.S. Navy in 1942 and renamed the U.S.S. Salem (CM-11), serving as a mine-layer and submarine net layer. She served in the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters earning two battle stars. She returned to commercial service in 1947 and ran the ferry car route until it was discontinued in 1961 due to the Cuban revolution and the subsequent deterioration of economic conditions in the country. Sold to a Honduran firm for use as a cargo ship, she was scrapped in 1970.
Palinov's fee of $1,000 to smuggle someone into the United States would be the equivalent of $13,000 in 2024.
When Pete is first introduced to Marianne, he nods his head slightly and the sound of his shoe heels clicking together can just be heard. This is an old European style formal courtesy given a lady when she is first introduced to a gentleman.