Trivia

* Trey Wilson, the actor who played Nathan Arizona, Sr., in the Coens' earlier film Raising Arizona, was originally cast to play mob boss Leo but died before filming. The role then went to Finney.

* Sam Raimi, film director and friend of the Coens, appears in a cameo as the principal police gunman at the siege of the Sons of Erin social club.

* Frances McDormand, Joel Coen's wife, appears in a cameo as the Mayor's secretary.

* Albert Finney appears in a very brief cameo as an elderly woman in the ladies' room when Tom bursts in there to confront Verna.

* Tom's apartment is located in the 'Barton Arms' - an allusion to the Coens' subsequent film, Barton Fink. During the writing process, the Coen's hit a wall in trying to figure out how exactly to end Miller's Crossing. They took time off from the script to write Barton Fink, a story about a writer with writer's block, then returned to their original project.

* During filming the New Orleans Police would arrive semi regularly to assess fines for permits the film crew had already procured. Joel Coen commented to Premiere Magazine during shooting, "they are acting precisely like the cops that we're depicting in the movie, and they don't even care!"

* There is only one shot where any hint of sunlight can be seen. It occurs when The Dane, Tic Tac and Frankie take Tom to Miller's Crossing to find Bernie's body. Sunlight is visible shining on the landscape in the background for a few seconds. Otherwise, every other scene was shot either on overcast days or indoors.