I Cover the Waterfront

The composition "I Cover the Waterfront" became a popular jazz standard, in both vocal and instrumental versions, and was performed and recorded by many bands and vocalists from the 1930s on. Originally, the book the movie was based on inspired the tune; it was not written for the movie. However, the movie was re-scored just before its release to include the tune as an instrumental. Written by Johnny Green and Edward Heyman, the song went on to become a jazz standard recorded by many artists, including Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, The Ink Spots, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others.

The news items about a woman giving birth in a water taxi, and the Empress of Britain docking that Joe reports over the telephone to the reporter at the news desk, had already appeared in print under his byline in the newspaper shown in the preceding sequence.

The opening credits are shown as if displayed on a front page of a newspaper with headlines and photos.

Cut to 58 minutes in some DVD releases.