Trivia

Although based on a fictional short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, the author came up with the idea from actual events occurring in 19th century England and Edinburgh, Scotland in 1827, called the West Port murders of 1828.

At that time, medical schools lacked sufficient funding or the resources to provide their students with cadavers for study. Seeing a financial opportunity there, William Burke suggested to his landlord, William Hare, that they sell the body of a recently deceased boarder to Dr. Robert Knox, an instructor at a Surgeon's Square anatomy school. Knox was grateful to have a specimen for his class and Burke and Hare began a lucrative operation that quickly moved from grave-robbing to murder. They killed their victims by suffocating or "burking" them. Estimates were that they murdered up to 28 people, preying on drunks, prostitutes, and the destitute elderly.

The 'exterior' scenes were filmed on sets constructed for RKO's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939).

This film featured the 8th and last on-screen teaming of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Filming took place between October and November 1944, delaying the completion of Karloff's Isle of the Dead (1945).

Robert Wise on Henry Daniell: "Henry was as far from a complainer as any I've ever known. He'd walk onto the set, do his work like the pro he was, do it damn good, and then quietly leave without being a burden to anybody. Period."

When Boris Karloff discovered he would be working opposite a classically trained actor like Henry Daniell, he grew rather nervous and hoped he could do a good job in the title role.