When Meek and Shayne are pursuing the "ghost" in Meek's car, Shayne tells Meek to shoot the tyres in the other car. Meek refuses as they are his tyres and that he "can't get any more...". During the Second World War, tyres were rationed in the USA. A limited number of people (e.g. nurses, fire brigades, police) were able to apply to the local rationing board for approval to purchase brand new tyres. Everybody else had to patch their tyres or replace the treads.
Prior to sitting in the electrified chair, Shayne says that at school he was known as "a young Steinmetz", a reference to Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865 -1923). He was an American mathematician and electrical engineer, known for his work on alternating current that supported the development of the US power industry.
This film is based on Clayton Rawson's novel No coffin for the corpse, where The great Merlini is the problem solver. Here The great Merlini is reduced to a single scene.
Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) drives a 1939 Mercury coupe; Dudley Wolff (Paul Harvey) drives a 1941 Ford station wagon;