The year this film was shot there was an election in Louisiana. One of the items to vote on was bill that had many different state projects. It was defeated the same day the crew was filming the funeral scene overnight in the Capital Building in Baton Rouge. The crew had to leave before all the props could be removed, including the coffin. The defeated bill was laid in the coffin by someone before the next daily legislative session began.
Melanie Griffith turned down the role of Blaze Starr which in the end was cast with actress Lolita Davidovich.
Former Democratic Governor of Louisiana Earl Long, portrayed by Paul Newman in this picture, was the uncle of Democratic U.S. Senator Russell Long, and the brother of another Democratic Governor and U.S. Senator, Huey Long, the latter of whom was assassinated, his story being told in the television movie Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995), which was made and first broadcast about six years after Blaze (1989).