Farrah Fawcett was in line for the role of Gloria. The studio opted for Goldie Hawn when Spelling-Goldberg Productions, the producers of Charlie's Angels (1976), warned all the studios that "they would be sued for damages if they employed me," Fawcett told The Associated Press in 1979. She was still under contract with Spelling-Goldberg when she left the show. Fawcett is visible in the background at the party scene where Hawn's character is introduced.
This film is considered Dudley Moore's American film debut, and its success kick-started his American movie career. It led to his being cast in 10 (1979) by Blake Edwards the following year. However, his first film seen in America was Bedazzled (1967).
The film is an homage to the suspense movies of Alfred Hitchcock. It was released seven months after Mel Brooks' Hitchcock spoof High Anxiety (1977). Writer and director Colin Higgins previously wrote Silver Streak (1976), another Hitchcock-like spoof thriller. The premise of an innocent person becoming entangled in a web of intrigue is common in Hitchcock films, such as The 39 Steps (1935), Saboteur (1942), North by Northwest (1959) and, most notably, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), which inspired the opera house sequence in Foul Play (1978). When Gloria is attacked in her home by a man attempting to strangle her with a scarf and she defends herself with a household object, both are references to Dial M for Murder (1954). Other Hitchcock films which receive a nod from screenwriter/director Colin Higgins include Notorious (1946), Vertigo (1958), and Psycho (1960). In addition, the plot includes a MacGuffin. Hitchcock popularized the term MacGuffin and used the technique in many of his films.
This was one of the ten highest-grossing American films of 1978. It was Goldie Hawn's first hit movie since Shampoo (1975). Its success enabled Hawn to get Private Benjamin (1980) made.
The movie's theme song "Ready to Take a Chance Again" was a hit, stayed on the American charts for 16 weeks, and even garnered a Best Song Academy Award nomination. It was sung by Barry Manilow, who also conceived and oversaw its production alongside of Ron Dante. Manilow had another song on the film's soundtrack as well, "Copacabana", which was from Manilow's fourth studio album "Even Now".