This was the only time Michael Bentine starred in a feature film, although he played a few cameo parts elsewhere. It was made at the height of his television popularity, and he wrote it as a vehicle for himself. However, it was a box-office failure, and a critical disappointment; Bentine later said that it had failed because he had no control over the editing of the film, and implied that he should have also directed.
Michael Bentine as also seen playing Gunga Din, the manager of the Jazz festival, uncredited.
The 'Fine Fare' supermarket outside where the escapoligist does his street act was actually filmed at Tolworth in Surrey, about ten miles south of London. As of 2022 it is still a supermarket, albeit now a Marks &Spencer food hall.