The police department of Scottsdale, Arizona disapproved of the script by Robert Boris and Rupert Hitzig and refused all participation, forcing the production out into the desert.

Guercio could not afford veteran cinematographer Conrad Hall, and so augmented Hall's salary with his own. According to Guercio, he made one dollar for directing Electra Glide in Blue.

Because Guercio had little money for casting, many of the relatives of the cast and crew appear in bit roles, including Guercio's wife Lucy and Conrad Hall's daughter Kate.

Many of the hippies in the commune scene are played by Chicago's roadies, including Bob Zemko, who died the following year.

When producers visited the set and complained that Guercio was ten days behind schedule, Guercio ripped ten pages out of the script, losing a subplot involving Melissa Green's "Hippie Girl."

The motorcycle chase late in the film was shot months after the end of principal photography by second unit director Bill Hickman. Hickman was veteran stuntman and stunt driver who also acted in such films as Bullitt (1968) and The French Connection (1971).

In the scene where Greenbush's Zipper Davis hoists a tree stump over John Wintergreen's head, actor Blake was genuinely afraid for his safety.

Apart from the title track, Guercio recorded the score for Electra Glide in Blue in one day, utilizing a 60 piece orchestra.

Chicago band member Terry Kath plays the shotgun-wielding hippie in the film's climax. Kath died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while playing Russian Roulette in January 1978.

Sources:
NYT review
www.sensesofcinema.com
www.dvdtown.com/review
www.destgulch.com
www.dvdtimes.co.uk
einsiders.com
Psychotronic Magazine

by Richard Harland Smith