- Actor-Inspired Element: In the title sequence, Harper dunks his head into a sinkful of ice cubes to rouse himself awake. Paul Newman reportedly followed this routine every morning in real life.
- Breakthrough Hit: The film launched William Goldman's career as a screenwriter.
- Completely Different Title: In Britain, the film was released under the novel's title, The Moving Target.
- Follow the Leader: A crime involving a disapperance, a mysterious conspiracy with a lot of Los Angeles lowlifes, a cynical detective, a complicated plot, a Fille Fatale—this movie owes a large debt to The Big Sleep. Logical enough, since the character from the book was initially quite derivative of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe character.
- Promoted Fanboy: William Goldman had long been an admirer of Ross MacDonald, saying the Archer books "the finest series of detective novels ever written by an American" and that MacDonald was "one of the best American novelists now operating, and he keeps getting better."
- What Could Have Been: Frank Sinatra was originally considered to star. Soon after the success of this film, he made up for it by appearing as another private detective in the film duology of Tony Rome and Lady in Cement.
- Working Title: Archer.
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