On 6 Mar 1967, DV announced that filmmaker Robert Altman had optioned film rights to the 1965 Richard Miles novel, That Cold Day in the Park. The project represented Altman’s first endeavor under the Factor—Altman—Mirell Films banner, which he co-founded with producers Donald Factor and Leon Mirell. Although Barbara Turner was originally attached to write the screenplay, a 3 May 1967 DV brief noted she had been replaced by Gillian Freeman. According to the 2 Oct 1968 issue, Turner’s initial draft moved the story’s setting of Paris, France, to London, England. Freeman’s revisions subsequently relocated the action to Vancouver, Canada, where the picture would be filmed.
       Principal photography began 16 Oct 1968, as noted by a Var brief published that day. The project marked the first U.S. production to be headquartered at Panorama Studios, which, due to ongoing legal disputes, had housed only two films since its construction in 1962. An article in the 22 Dec 1968 LAT stated that the producers planned to split the $1.2 million budget with distributor Commonwealth United Entertainment, using a fifty-person crew mostly comprised of Canadians. Locations included Wing’s Café, the city’s “skid row,” and a restroom at the Belmont Hotel. Filming was expected to be completed within eight weeks.
       According to the 21 Feb 1969 DV, That Cold Day in the Park was heavily promoted at the Show-A-Rama cinema distribution fair in Kansas City, MO. The 2 May 1969 DV also noted that the film was submitted as Canada’s official entry in that year’s Cannes Film Festival.
       Following a preview screening for press and exhibitors, the 4 Jun 1969 Var reported that several minutes were cut from the film to avoid an X rating. Edited footage included a doctor’s room examination, a bathtub scene featuring Sandy Dennis and Michael Burns, and a sex scene between Luana Anders and John Garfield, Jr.
       With an R rating approved by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the film opened 8 Jun 1969 at New York City’s Orleans and Plaza Theaters. The 26 Jun 1969 LAT review noted that the Los Angeles, CA, engagement began the previous day at the United Artists Theater in Westwood. According to the 11 Jun 1969 Var, Dell Publishing planned a special edition reissue of Miles’s novel to coincide with the film’s release.