Lewis Teague was paid eleven thousand dollars to direct this film. However, since this movie was made non-union, he had to pay his entire salary as a fine to the Director's Guild.
When Lewis Teague directed Robert Forster in a short second unit scene for Avalanche (1978), two of them decided that if Teague got to direct a full movie, he would offer Forster a role. However, when the time came, Forster's agent thought the role of Turk was too small for him, and persuaded him to refuse billing.
A number of critics favorably compared the whorehouse scenes to those of Storyville reproduced by Louis Malle in his film 'Pretty Baby' (dir. Louis Malle, 1978).
Near the climax, Eddie (Glenn Withrow) manages to escape from a police blockade by driving backwards. During his audio commentary, John Sayles reveals that he had originally written an earlier scene, in which Dillinger (Robert Conrad) taught Eddie how to drive a car backwards. But this scene was cut for time and budgetary reasons, and was never shot.
James Horner's first credited score. During his career, he would be Oscar-nominated 10 times, winning twice.