The film's budget allowed $600 for Matt Dillon to learn to play craps in real games. To make sure the money lasted, a film crew member always bet against him for the same amount so their wins and losses cancelled out.
Third collaboration between Matt Dillon and Diane Lane since working on The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983).
Diane Lane said she was very nervous being naked on stage filming her striptease scene. But five minutes after it began, she realized the crew was too busy doing their jobs to pay any attention to her. So she figured, "What the hell. They're not thinking about it, so why should I?"
This would be Ben Bolt's only Hollywood feature.
This was director Ben Bolt's first Hollywood feature, and it was greenlit by newly appointed Columbia chief David Puttnam. Puttnam had worked with Bolt's father, the legendary Oscar winning screenwriter Sir Robert Bolt, on several unmade features. Bolt had been brought in to replace Harold Becker after he had fallen a week behind schedule very early on, and spent an inordinate amount of money on a street set.