Many exterior scenes were filmed in Richmond, Virginia.
Title character's name is based upon an old Irish song that Robert Preston sings during the movie: "There was a man named Michael Finnigan. He had whiskers on his chin-igan. The wind came up and blew them in-igan. Poor old Michael Finnigan!".
A TV movie made for the HBO network.
One restaurant scene is filmed in a Richmond college dive bar that was named "Hard Times". The movie cleaned it up for the one scene then put it back.