A 2 Mar 1966 Var news item reported that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (MGM) had purchased screen rights to David Markson’s 1965 novel, The Ballad of Dingus Magee, for $100,000. The project was slated to be the first of four feature films under new management at MGM, to begin shooting by Mar 1970, the 29 Dec 1969 DV noted. At the time, all but thirty acres of MGM’s 180-acre studio lot in Culver City, CA, were up for sale, according to a 16 Jan 1970 DV article.
       Principal photography was scheduled to begin in Tucson, AZ, on 9 Feb 1970, as stated in the 30 Jan 1970 DV. While on location there, the 24 Aug 1970 DV claimed that filmmakers spent $400,000-$500,000 on food and lodging. Following six weeks in Arizona, the 18 Mar 1970 DV confirmed that production had resumed that day on the MGM lot. On 1 Apr 1970, a Var brief indicated that principal photography was “finishing up” at the studio.
       According to a news item in the 20 Mar 1970 DV, two Montana women named Pauline Small and Martha Lightfoot were hired as chaperones for the following four Indian women, all over the age of ninety-five, who had been brought to Hollywood to act in the film: Mae Old Coyote, Ina Bad Bear, Florence Real Bird, and Lillian Hogan.
       Lead actor Frank Sinatra was scheduled to perform at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV, around Thanksgiving 1970, which prompted MGM to consider holding the premiere there, as noted in the 1 Jul 1970 LAT.. On 17 Jul 1970, a ninety-six minute version of the picture was shown at a public preview screening, which was reviewed in the 21 Jul 1970 DV. The final version of Dirty Dingus Magee, released in Nov 1970, had a running time of only ninety minutes.
       The 10 Feb 1970 and 2 Apr 1970 issues of DV listed Buster Matlock as the animal action supervisor for the American Humane Association of Hollywood, and Grady Sutton as a cast member.