Bette Davis remarked that she looked back at this film with fondness, making it one of the few from the early part of her career that she would look at that way.
The dog in this film is played by Asta, who rose to fame as Asta in The Thin Man series. His uncredited name in this film is "Ragsy."
Butcher Town is an industrial neighborhood in San Francisco that historically housed the city's slaughterhouses. It is one of the few remaining industrial sectors of San Francisco. Islais Creek flows through Butcher Town and a draw bridge allows traffic on heavily traveled Third Street to cross it with a minimum of interruption. It was first built in 1915 (the one referred to in this film) and replaced in 1945.
This film role was one Bette Davis enjoyed, working with a team which allowed her to shine in her supporting role: long-admired director, William Dieterle, cameraman Tony Gaudio in their first collaboration, and costume designer Orry-Kelly. This allowed Davis to shine in her campaign to win the role of two-timing Mildred, the waitress in Of Human Bondage (1934) by W. Somerset Maugham. Stingy studio boss Jack Warner finally relented only two weeks into filming Fog Over Frisco (1934) once word reached him of her performance. Her status was promoted to star from third billing and, best of all, he approved her loan out. The week after Fog was complete, she began to star in the RKO film, for which she received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination.
The $250,000 in stolen bonds Bill delivers at the beginning of the film would equate to over $5,550,000 in 2023 dollars.
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