ABC was planning a pilot based on the film, in 1998.
A movie theater marquee that Easy passes is advertising "The Betrayal (1948) by Oscar Micheaux". Micheaux was the first African-American to produce a feature-length film.
When Daphne and Easy enter Richard McGee's house, the radio program in the background is The Life of Riley, starring William Bendix.
Director Jonathan Demme produced the film under his banner after having worked with Denzel Washington in Philadelphia (1993) years earlier. At one point, Demme considered directing the film himself but elected to defer to Carl Franklin on the strength of his direction on One False Move (1991).
Elmer Bernstein wrote an hour-long score for the film, which was largely replaced by period source music as well as jazz pieces of the period that were in the films' temp track.