Trivia

The footage of the oncoming train was used again in other RKO films including The Clay Pigeon (1949), Cry Danger (1951) and The Narrow Margin (1952).

Two of the most notable film noir titles, Laura (1944) and Scarlet Street (1945), also make central use of painting and art, and all three films use the subject to create mysterious and even sinister atmospheres. In the case of Crack-Up (1946), the presence of Claire Trevor lends an additional noir feel, since she was just coming off Murder, My Sweet (1944) and Johnny Angel (1945) and was still to appear in Born to Kill (1947), Key Largo (1948) and Raw Deal (1948), all of which are key noir titles. Trevor was a true icon of film noir and played both heroines and femme fatales, an unusual distinction.

In the post-World War II era, the technique of narcosynthesis (as it was later called) was developed by psychiatrists as a means of treating patients who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Narcosynthesis-also called sodium amytal interview, amobarbital interview, or amytal interview-uses a technique of free association as well as dream and transference material during the session as a basis for uncovering relevant topics for later therapeutic discussion. However, the accuracy of the therapy's results is debated.

Scenes for Crack-Up (1946) were shot at the Los Angeles harbor.

Crack-Up (1946) is based on "Madman's Holiday," a short story written by mystery writer Fredric Brown published in 1943 by Detective's Story Magazine.