- Acting for Two: For some reason, Michelle Phillips, who stars as Billie Frechette, also appears briefly as Polly Hamilton, the hooker on Dillinger's arm when he's shot down outside the Biograph.
- Dawson Casting:
- Melvin Purvis, who was barely 31 when he brought down Dillinger, was played by then-55-year-old Ben Johnson.
- Dillinger (also 31 when he died) was portrayed by 45-year-old Warren Oates.
- Executive Meddling: Of a different type than usual; The ending was originally had Dillinger unarmed as he is gunned down, but J. Edgar Hoover, then the director of the FBI, demanded this be changed to Dillinger drawing his handgun before being shot to match the official FBI account of his death;note There is also a disclaimer, purporting to be from Hoover (in fact it's read by an impersonator, as Hoover had died by the time the film was released), claiming that the film is an inaccurate glamorization of real events.
- Follow the Leader: One of the many movies released in the wake of Bonnie and Clyde to exploit the Depression-era crime genre, and considered one of the best to do it.
- Stillborn Franchise: The movie's success persuaded ABC to commission a pilot for a television series called Purvis, with Ben Johnson reprising his role from the film. Johnson backed out, and a standalone TV movie called Melvin Purvis: G-Man was produced with a script cowritten by John Milius and starring Dale Robertson as Purvis, in hopes of serving as a pilot. The proposed series never materialized, although G-Man inspired its own sequel, The Kansas City Massacre.
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