Richard Attenborough's make-up, mainly consisting of a bald pate, took three hours to apply every morning.
The film was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for John Hurt. The nomination was Hurt's first BAFTA nomination (he did not win), with several others following in his career, with Hurt winning a BAFTA next time for Best Actor in a television role for his part in The Naked Civil Servant (1975).
The whole of Rillington Place (renamed Ruston Close in Ladbroke Grove) was due for demolition when filming took place, but was put off until filming had been completed. As soon as movie crews and equipment had been removed, demolition crews went in under police guard. The whole street remained under guard until it had been demolished, and rubble removed, to prevent trophy hunters attempting to remove any building debris belonging to Number 10 for souvenirs. Number 7 was used for interior shots, as number 10 had been gutted to stop souvenir hunters.
Throughout the 1960s, filmmakers tried to set up this production, but the Christie case was still considered too disturbing for British audiences.
The serial killer John Christie was reportedly unable to talk much louder than a whisper since his war-time injuries in World War I. His biographers suggest that his inability to talk loudly was a psychological reaction to his injuries, and not caused by the injuries themselves.