The first theatrical film based on a television show.
The movie followed the then current tendency of radio and TV shows to work in the sponsor's products wherever possible. Liggett & Meyers Tobacco was the TV/radio series' main sponsor, and though it is doubtful they had any financial involvement with the movie, packs of their Chesterfield cigarettes can be seen throughout the movie. Every public place in the movie also featured a Chesterfield vending machine.
Herbert Ellis, who appears uncredited as The Booking Sergeant, was one of several actors who played Friday's partners during the first year of the Dragnet (1951) TV series before Ben Alexander got the role full time.
The recording device is a Protona Minifon Mi-51, which was introduced in 1951 and was the first of a series of portable recorders built in Germany by Monske & Co GmbH. Adjusted for inflation, the device cost just under $4,000.
While the use of a small standard microphone is seen in the movie, there was another microphone that was disguised as a wristwatch with a wire running up the user's sleeve.
The Mi-51 was a strange device, as the components ran on three different voltages, one for the motor, one for the miniature vacuum tubes, and another voltage for the filaments of the tubes. Within a year of the release of this film, the Mi-51 was replaced by the P-55, which was operated by a set of buttons on the end, similar to what would later be seen in a portable cassette recorder.
While the use of a small standard microphone is seen in the movie, there was another microphone that was disguised as a wristwatch with a wire running up the user's sleeve.
The Mi-51 was a strange device, as the components ran on three different voltages, one for the motor, one for the miniature vacuum tubes, and another voltage for the filaments of the tubes. Within a year of the release of this film, the Mi-51 was replaced by the P-55, which was operated by a set of buttons on the end, similar to what would later be seen in a portable cassette recorder.
While not released as a 3-D movie, the fight scene includes multiple first-person shots that were set-up for 3-D, in which the person striking the blow punches directly at the camera in a tight close-up.