- Follow the Leader: Universal made Mirage as a Spiritual Successor to their 1963 hit Charade. Besides having a screenwriter (Peter Stone), two actors (Walter Matthau and George Kennedy), and a snappy One-Word Title in common, the two films are both Thrillers with plenty of Plot Twists, Witty Banter, and a May–December Romance between a middle-aged hero and his younger Love Interest. In 1966, Mirage got its own follow-up with Arabesque, which re-united Stone with Gregory Peck. (Peck even played a hero named David in both movies!) That same year, Universal released another film in the same tradition: Blindfold, which starred Rock Hudson (who had been considered for Mirage) and featured Charade's Ned Glass and Mirage's Hari Rhodes in supporting roles. And of course, all these films owe much to the works of Alfred Hitchcock.
- Darker and Edgier: However, the murders and other violence in Mirage are treated more seriously than in the other films, and the stakes (when they're finally revealed) turn out to be much higher.
- Those Two Actors: Diane Baker, Leif Erickson and George Kennedy had all been featured in the previous year's Joan Crawford/William Castle thriller Strait Jacket.
- What Could Have Been: According to the film's trivia page
at IMDb, Rock Hudson was the original choice to play David Stillwell, while the role of Shela was offered to Tippi Hedren and Leslie Caron. - Mirage was the second film scored by Quincy Jones.
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