Anecdotes

The title comes from a well-known poem by FW Bourdillon (1852-1921), "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes": "The night has a thousand eyes, And the day but one; Yet the light of the bright world dies With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes, And the heart but one: Yet the light of a whole life dies When love is done."

Early in the picture, a very humble John Triton is shown climbing stairs to his tenement. In the background is clearly shown the Los Angeles funicular railway, Angels Flight, a feature of Bunker Hill in downtown from 1901, running between the close-spaced buildings from Hill to Olive St, south of the entrance to the 3rd St tunnel. The tenements were eventually to fall to re-development, as did Angels Flight, which after a hiatus of about 27 years, was restored to service nearby on the hill.

Triton says that a poet once wrote a poem in which he said each man kills the thing he loves. He is referring to "The Ballad of Reading Gaol," by Oscar Wilde.

"Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 27, 1949 with Edward G. Robinson and William Demarest reprising their film roles.

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. A popular favorite among local television audiences, it was first telecast both in Philadelphia on WC (Channel 10) and in Chicago on WBBM (Channel 2) Wednesday 7 January 1959, in St. Louis Thursday 8 January 1959 on KMOX (Channel 4) and in New York City Wednesday 28 January 1959 on WCBS (Channel 2). It first aired in Milwaukee 5 April 1959 on WITI (Channel 6), in Boston 6 May 1959 on WBZ (Channel 4), in Phoenix 21 May 1959 on KVAR (Channel 12), in Seattle 23 July 1959 on KIRO (Channel 7), in Omaha 1 October 1959 on KETV (Channel 7), in Denver 17 November 1959 on KBTV (Channel 9), in Johnstown 1 December 1959 on WJAC (Channel 6), in Asheville 30 December 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13), in Pittsburgh 9 April 1960 on KDKA (Channel 2), and in Minneapolis 30 August 1960 on WTCN (Channel 11).