MGM, then under the authority of infamous studio head James Aubrey, picked up the film for distribution, then dumped it when it tested poorly. Had MGM gone through with it, it would have been one of a slew of many "with-it" youth pictures they released that year, including The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (also shot in NY), The Strawberry Statement, and Zabriskie Point. It was picked up by Plaza Pictures, a smaller company that quickly went defunct soon after. They retitled it Pigeons, and edited nearly twenty minutes from the runtime. MGM dip whip up a poster for the film during the time they test-screened the picture. Their principal design was used for the Scorpion DVD release, though the DVD actually contains the shorter retitled recut.
This was Jill O'Hara's only movie appearance. Her best known acting performance was on the Broadway stage originating the role of Fran Kubelik in the musical "Promises, Promises", for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.