You Can’t Win ‘Em All was the original working title for the picture. On 2 Aug 1968, DV announced the casting of Carol Lynley and Paul Burke, and stated that Robert Goldstein’s B.G. 6 would produce the film for Warner Bros.—Seven Arts, Inc. Later that month, a news brief in the 14 Aug 1968 DV reported a title change to Sudden Death. Two days later, a DV production chart listed the start of principal photography on 5 Aug 1968. The name of the film was again switched to The Perfect Set-Up, before a final title change to Once You Kiss a Stranger, announced in the 24 Oct 1968 DV.
       Frank Watkins, Jason Wingreen, and John Porter were identified as cast members in the 16 Aug 1968 and 22 Aug 1968 issues of DV.
       As a promotional junket, Warner Bros. organized a 10 Nov 1969 golf tournament at the Cedarwood Country Club in Charlotte, NC, two days prior to the film’s scheduled theatrical release there, the 8 Oct 1969 Var reported. An estimated fifty exhibitors and a number of sports and “amusement” journalists were said to have been invited. Shortly after, regional releases were scheduled to occur on 12 Nov 1969 in Greenwood, SC, and on 14 Nov 1969 in Florence, SC, and Burlington and High Point, NC. The following month, the film had its Los Angeles, CA, opening the week of 11 Dec 1969. In New York City, it debuted on 15 Apr 1970, on a double bill with the 1969 British film, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.
       The Motion Picture Assocation of America (MPAA) gave the picture an M-rating (for mature audiences).
       Once You Kiss a Stranger marked director Robert Sparr’s final feature film. Sparr died in a plane crash on 28 Aug 1969. His LAT obituary, published the following day, noted that he’d died on a location scout for United Artists’ upcoming film, Barquero (1970, see entry).