- Adaptation Displacement: The film is loosely based on The Rainbird Pattern (1972), a thriller novel by Victor Canning, which had been recommended to Alfred Hitchcock by Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link. Because of the Hitchcock connection, the novel is now mostly remembered as the source of the film.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: The Rainbirds’ deceased chauffeur is named Michael O'Keefe.
- Narm: The runaway car scene is not without effective Hitchcockian suspense, but is also hilariously bizarre and awkward. Blanche (who is sick, tipsy, and hysterical) is literally rolling around the vehicle in a tangle of flailing arms and legs, while George (too focused to be terrified) scolds Blanche in the most whiney voice imaginable. Despite the inherent terror of the situation, the scene plays out like a husband and his drunk wife trying to fix a toaster.
- Retroactive Recognition: Katherine Helmond, pre-Jessica Tate and pre-Mona Robinson, as Joe Maloney's wife. Comes off as Playing Against Type, since Mrs. Maloney is much colder and more stern than the characters she came to specialize in playing.
- Signature Scene: The runaway car on the steep mountain road, and the final shot.
- Special Effect Failure:
- The Blue Screen work in the driving scenes is exceptionally poor, even for the time. You can often see streetlights through the actors.
- Adamson's jewelry store appears to have been a soundstage set in front of a Blue Screen, with the doorway and sidewalk rear-projected. Joe Maloney's first appearance in the store especially looks sloppy and strange.
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