In the director's commentary on the DVD, Norman Mailer said that he was counseled to cut the ending of the scene in which Ryan O'Neal's character reads a note from his ex-girlfriend, informing him that his wife was having an affair with her husband, and he exclaims, "Oh God! Oh Man! Oh God! Oh Man!" Mailer kept it in because he thought the poor line reading added something to the picture. O'Neal, embarrassed, turned on Mailer because the bit revealed his shortcomings as an actor. The line has since become a popular internet meme.
Norman Mailer won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director for this film. As of 2020, he is the only person to win both a Pulitzer Prize and a Razzie.
Norman Mailer completely flummoxed the releasing studio, Cannon Films, after attending a preview screening where the film was laughed at, heckled and booed by the audience. In response, Mailer suddenly began promoting the film in publicity appearances as an intentional parody, despite Cannon having built their entire promotional campaign selling it as a modern masterpiece based on a classic crime novel.
One trailer features Norman Mailer defiantly reading comment cards from an advance screening ("Stinks", "The Devil made this picture", "One of the worst ever, my grandmother could do better") while the music to "Land of Hope and Glory" plays in the background.
Roger Donoghue was the prizefighter thanked by Norman Mailer for telling him the anecdote that resulted in the title. The anecdote was: Frank Costello, the Murder Inc. honcho, and his gorgeous girlfriend greet three champion boxers in the Stork Club. Costello demands that each, in turn, dance with the woman, and each nervously complies. The last, Willie Pep, suggests that Mr. Costello dance. Costello replied, "Tough guys don't dance."