Official U.S. Copyright records list The Man in Black author Marvin H. Albert as Marvin Albert Conroy, a combination of his real name and his occasional pseudonym “Al Conroy.”
       On 28 Sep 1965, DV announced that producer Martin Rackin had acquired rights to Albert’s western novel and was set to begin development as part of a two-picture arrangement with Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. following the completion of Stagecoach (1966, see entry). A 7 Apr 1966 DV brief indicated that Stagecoach star Van Heflin was in negotiations to appear alongside William Holden.
       By the summer, however, Rackin and his associate producer Alvin G. Manuel parted ways with Fox amid complications likely related to a lawsuit recently brought against Rackin and the studio by Lansall Corp., which currently held the rights to the 1939 version of Stagecoach (see entry). On 27 Jun 1966, DV reported that Rackin and Manuel had moved The Man in Black to Universal Pictures, and one month later, the 28 Jul 1966 edition announced the hiring of actors Dean Martin and George Peppard under director Arnold Laven. A 22 Aug 1966 DV item revealed that the filmmakers considered casting a relatively “unknown” actress such as Marlyn Mason for “Molly Lang” before selecting Jean Simmons.
       Around this time, the 16 Sep 1966 DV indicated that Sydney Boehm was contributing to Marvin H. Albert’s screenplay, which had since been renamed Rough Night in Jericho. Although a 21 Sep 1966 DV brief listed the start of principal photography as 26 Sep 1966, the 28 Sep 1966 Var announced that shooting had only just begun that day. Filming took place on location in Kanab, UT, and at the Universal studio backlot in Universal City, CA. According to the 28 Nov 1966 LAT, Charles Washburn worked on the film as an assistant director through Universal after becoming the first African-American to be admitted to the Directors Guild of America’s assistant directors program.
       An item in the 11 Oct 1966 DV stated that a saloon sequence required the use of 175 “western [type]” background actors, while another report four days earlier listed the following fifteen stuntmen who participated in the film: Walter Scott, LeRoy Johnson, Henry Wills, Dennis Judd, Dave Burbank, James Skaggs, Bill TeGroen, Larry Duffy, Jim Durand, Jim Blake, Howard Henshaw, Zeke Morgan, Jeff Kane, Ken White, and Lew Girrard.
       Additional DV, Var, and LAT casting announcements throughout production claimed that Joan Twelve, Lawrence Mann, Ned Flory, Joe Gray, Leo Needham, Rick Warwick, Don Ross, Fred Krone, and Ray Saunders had supporting roles in the picture alongside Laven’s wife, Amanda Harley, and Dean Martin’s son, Dean Martin, Jr. Local Kanab barber John Clayton and Universal studio police sergeant William J. Canavally also reportedly appeared in the film, while the 9 Feb 1967 Los Angeles Sentinel stated that Bill Pyle played a trader who is shot by a buffalo hunter portrayed by Chuck Farley.
       According to the 26 Jul 1967 Var, simultaneous world premiere events were scheduled for 11 Aug 1967 at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, TX, and the nearby Worth Theatre in Fort Worth. First-week box-office reports published in the 27 Sep 1967 Var indicated that Rough Night in Jericho opened in St. Louis, MO, and Philadelphia, PA, in late Sep 1967 before beginning a Los Angeles, CA, engagement on 11 Oct 1967. The New York City opening followed on 8 Nov 1967.