During filming Warren Oates would reportedly invite co-stars Ben Johnson and Peter Boyle to his trailer for a three-course meal made up of magic mushrooms on toast, Dexedrine in brandy and vanilla LSD.
Kid Blue (1973) was not financially successful. The failure of Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie (1971) had made him a box office liability, resulting in Kid Blue being shelved for over a year. When test screenings disappointed audiences, the New York opening was canceled and NYT stated that a precedent was set when, as a U.S. film already in release, it was included in the 11th New York Film Festival. The picture's commercial run lasted only four days and a Variety article quoted from a series of self-deprecating ads that were released, using the phrases "It's no Deep Throat," "The first movie in history to admit it's a box-office failure," and "Maybe we should blame the whole darned thing on Watergate."
Various people suggested to director James Frawley that he cast either Donald Sutherland or Richard Chamberlain in the part of Reese Ford, but he held out for Warren Oates, who was eventually cast.
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