This movie had two major American releases in the United States. The first run was distributed by International Co-Productions whilst the second, a wide release, was distributed by United Artists. The film was known as "Violent City" for the first of these releases but was retitled "The Family" for the second. The film's second release in February 1973 had the film's "The Family" title-logo set in white text on black background and in a display font - all similar to The Godfather (1972)'s title logo, that movie having had been released around just a year beforehand. This was to cash-in on that film's success as this Italian movie also involved the mob and family: the inter-relationship between a hit-man, a mob boss and their shared love interest. This movie's title has reverted to "Violent City" for its DVD release in English speaking territories. The "Violent City" title of this picture is a literal English translation of its original Italian title which is "Città Violenta".
The identity of the actor playing Coogan is an apparent mystery. He is not listed in the film credits nor in any secondary sources, and director Sergio Sollima stated in an interview that he could not remember what his name was.
United Artists cut about eight minutes from the Italian version of this film for its American release. These scenes are re-inserted in the DVD but are heard in the Italian language with English subtitles. The complete and uncut version of this film on DVD restores all scenes which had been omitted from all earlier English language prints. As these scenes were never looped in English, they appear on the DVD in Italian language with English subtitles, while the rest of the film is in English.
During the car chase on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the cars can be seen speeding westbound on the waterfront past the ticket booth of Captain Cook's Glass Bottom Boat Harbor Cruises, a popular one hour tour that operated from St. Thomas's waterfront for twenty years (1965-1985).