As Jane Adams (Jayne Meadows) is searching the files for a dental record, she passes an index card bearing the name Ray Chandler, an inside reference to the detective-story writer Raymond Chandler.
J. Scott Smart played the part of Brad Runyan in a radio show during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Shooting for this film overlapped with filming on Sous le plus grand chapiteau du monde (1952) and Emmett Kelly's scenes in the de Mille film had to be done when his schedule on "The Fat Man" permitted.
According to Emmett Kelly's autobiography, the film makers originally expected him to play his part in his famous "Weary Willie" tramp clown makeup, but he refused and designed a new white clown makeup for the film.
The characters of Runyan and Bill appear to be inspired by characters from Rex Stout's "Nero Wolfe" novels. Runyan, like Nero Wolfe, is a private detective who appreciates fine food and lives in New York. Also like Wolfe, he is a large, obese man. Bill combines the attributes of two characters - Wolfe's sidekick, Archie, who does most of the legwork in the novels, and Fritz, Wolfe's personal chef, who prepares his meals. The significant difference is that Runyan, unlike Wolfe, actually leaves his house to investigate and question people.