Bud Cort's first film after his near-fatal car accident, which he was filming at the time of his accident. He was still recovering from his injuries when he completed the film. Bud was encouraged to show the scars on his forehead and his bandaged forearm to enhance his character, 'Mueller.'
Feature film debut for Peter Coyote.
Sam Krachmalnik, who played the main Russian villain Zhukov, was the Orchestra Conductor for UCLA at the time this movie was made. He had not acted in film prior to this role.
Filmed concert scenes at the Club Fugazi in San Francisco. A general call for extras for the concert audience was placed in local media and several hundred people showed up.