Lt. Scott (Lee J. Cobb) refers to the person who shot his partner as a 'gunsel'. A comment in The Maltese Falcon (1941) explains that when Dashiell Hammett wrote the novel The Maltese Falcon, he described Wilmer as a "catamite" (a young man in a sexual relationship with an older man). The publisher objected, so Hammett changed it to "gunsel," an obscure bit of street slang with the same meaning. Because so few people were familiar with the term, it snuck past the Breen Office and into the finished film. Most people who watch the movie assume "gunsel" is just another word for gunman.
The working titles of this film were Shakedown on Biscayne Bay , Shakedown on Biscayne Drive and Biscayne Bay . The film begins with an onscreen narrator explaining that "this is a stunning exposé based on fact concerning a vicious attempt by organized crime to take over the entire state of Florida. But for the alert and courageous work of Florida's law enforcement agencies and the integrity of government administrations, the threat may have been made good." The film continues in a semi-documentary style, featuring commentary by an offscreen narrator.
According to a Feb 1956 LAT news item, Dennis O'Keefe was originally to star in the film. Although a Mar 1956 LAT news item notes that ventriloquist Rickie Lane was conferring about a part in the picture, Lane does not appear in the released film. According to a Mar 1952 HR news item, Robert Kent was originally to have written the screenplay. The Var review notes that background shooting was done in Havana, Cuba, Miami, FL and the Florida Everglades.
Although Miami Exposé was produced as a low-budget production and tradeshown in Jul 1956, Columbia executives decided to withhold it from general release until Sep 1956 so that the studio could build up the publicity campaign and release it as a major production, according to a Jul 1956 HR news item. The film marked the last performance of Edward Arnold, who died on 26 Apr 1956. Although some sources cite The Ambassador's Daughter (see above), which was shot earlier but released around the same time as Miami Exposé , as Arnold's last film, according to the Var review, the longtime character actor was fatally stricken while making Miami Exposé .
(AFI)