This film has many actors cast against previous types. Van Johnson had appeared in light comedies and musicals, making him a teen idol at the time. His versatility, proven in this film, would lead to his role in Battleground (1949). Gloria DeHaven has previously been cast as sweet, innocent girls, but here she is a stripper and gun moll. Gorgeous Arlene Dahl, formerly a high-paid covergirl before marrying Mike, spurns the glamorous life and tries hard to accept the role the stay-at-home wife of a cop (whom she is desperately in love with, and daily fears losing).
This noir-ish crime drama was an unusual genre for MGM, and especially for its stars, Van Johnson and Gloria DeHaven. It reflected the influence of new production chief Dore Schary who had recently moved from RKO. In only a few years, Schary would replace Louis B. Mayer.
Norman Lloyd (playing the creepy informer "Sleeper") outlived his co-stars, dying at the age of 106 years old in 2021.
This was the final film for producer Harry Rapf, ending a career of over 30 years and over 80 films. Rapf, whose film career spanned four decades, and joined M-G-M in 1924, died of heart failure on February 7, 1949, one week after shooting began on Scene of the Crime.
Scene of the Crime (1949) was completed on schedule and "well within" its $750,000 dollar budget. This film was a success at the box office for MGM, earning a profit of $151,000 (about $2.03M in 2025) according to studio records.