Michael Palin was offered the role of Charlie McManus but other work commitments rendered him unavailable.
Writer-director Jonathan Lynn wanted this film to be in the tradition of the Ealing comedies of the 1950s.
Final production made by Handmade Films (under its original incarnation, which had started in the late 1970s).
The film's main movie poster featured a WANTED poster that read: "WANTED - Brian Hope ... Charlie McManus - For the ROBBERY of $1,000,000 - REWARD - Caution: These men stole this money from the mob - who stole it from the ruthless 'Triad Gang' who stole it from the Bank of London...consequently, Mr. Hope and Mr. McManus are wanted by a lot of people - on both sides of the law".