The copyright length of the picture was 100 minutes.
       Alex Segal was originally attached to direct Clint Eastwood in Coogan’s Bluff as part of an exclusive contract with Universal Pictures, the 28 Jul 1967 DV reported. However, as stated in a 1 May 1968 Var brief, Segal was forced to abandon the project due to illness. In an interview published in the 28 Nov 1968 LAT, director Don Siegel joked that he was chosen as a replacement because his name was a loose combination of Alex Segal’s and Don Taylor’s, noting that Taylor was the other contender for the job. By the time Siegel was brought on, the project had reportedly gone through eight scripts.
       Principal photography began 9 Nov 1967 in New York, according to an 8 Dec 1967 DV production chart. Four weeks of location shooting were scheduled to take place there, as stated in a 6 Dec 1967 Var item, which also indicated that dailies were being processed by Perfect Film & Chemical Corp., a recent acquisition of Pathé Laboratories. The 3 Oct 1968 NYT review listed Fort Tryon Park, the Cloisters museum, and Tavern on the Green in Central Park as New York City filming locations. On 12 Dec 1967, DV announced that production moved that day to the Mojave Desert for four days of exteriors.
       Prior to theatrical release, the picture was rated “C” (Condemned) by the National Catholic Office of Motion Pictures (NCOMP). A news item in the 3 Sep 1968 DV noted that it was rare for a U.S. film backed by a major studio to receive such a harsh rating, and quoted NCOMP’s review, which denounced the film’s gratuitous nudity and sex, and its “repulsive protagonist…presented to the audience as an admirable hero.” The picture was first released in New York City, prior to the rollout of the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) new rating program; therefore, it was unrated by the MPAA upon first release, but by the time it opened on 20 Nov 1968 in Los Angeles, CA, it carried an “R” rating, which restricted children under sixteen from seeing it without a parent or guardian.
       According to the 28 Nov 1968 LAT, Don Siegel was unhappy with Universal Pictures’ distribution plan, specifically that the 2 Oct 1968 New York City opening coincided with the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, a World Series baseball game, and the wide release of another Clint Eastwood movie, Hang ‘Em High (1968, see entry). Despite his complaints, the 7 Oct 1968 DV reported that Coogan’s Bluff had a successful opening week at New York City’s DeMille Theatre and Loew’s Orpheum, taking in an estimated $40,000 in box-office receipts. Following mixed critical reception, the picture went on to gross $3,011,145, according to a 10 May 1993 Var chart of “all-time film rental champs.”
       Coogan’s Bluff marked Siegel and Eastwood’s first collaboration. The pair made four more films together: Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970, see entry); The Beguiled and Dirty Harry (1971, see entries); and Escape from Alcatraz (1979, see entry). Coogan’s Bluff was also the first film collaboration between Siegel, Eastwood and Bruce Surtees, who worked as an uncredited camera operator (capturing the motorcycle chase) and became the director of photography on many of Siegel's films, beginning with The Beguiled (see entry). Surtees also continued to work with Eastwood, photographing his first film as director, Play Misty for Me (see entry), which was also released in 1971.