Regular news notices document that filming of the production began on May 6, 1946, with exterior scenes being shot first on location at El Segundo Beach, situated about 25 miles southwest of Hollywood. Additional location work was done in San Francisco as filming continued into the latter half of June. As early as July, it was reported that the film was ready to be scheduled for release. Those notices proved to be premature, for problems evidently arose generating a satisfactory final cut of the film. These persisted into October 1946, when RKO announced that scheduled November 7 previews of "Deadlier Than the Male" at a national trade show and at exchange centers were being postponed. In updating the status of the film, the Hollywood news journal "Box Office Digest" revealed that the picture was still being edited in October and was on a list of productions identified to be on RKO's "Back Log In Cutting Room". A general release date of November 10, 1946 published earlier for the film was postponed as well.