The lobby of the Hotel Lido, where Ray St. Ives lives, may look familiar to Eagles fans. It was the location for the gatefold photo of their "Hotel California" album, released in December 1976.
Charles Bronson did his own stunts for this movie, including dangling from the elevator wires nearly 2 stories up from ground floor.
The children of Charles Bronson apparently brought a lawsuit against Warner Brothers for allegedly failing to declare profit points from the DVD and cable sales of this film, as they were entitled to residuals for their father's work. The matter is believed to have been settled out of court.
"The Video Vacuum" has said of this film: "In the wake of Chinatown (1974)'s success, Hollywood went detective crazy. When they weren't remaking movies, old detective movies like Farewell, My Lovely (1975), they were doing flicks that channeled the detective films of the 1930s and 1940s. St. Ives (1976) is such a film. The main character isn't exactly a detective, but he's involved in a case that isn't too far removed from the sort of predicament Phillip Marlowe frequently found himself in."
"The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: The Gangster Film" book states that Swedish auteur Director Ingmar Bergman visited the set during production, and apparently exclaimed that the movie's star Charles Bronson was "scandalously underestimated".