Synopsis

New York detective Mike Keegan is assigned to protect Claire Gregory, a wealthy socialite who witnessed a murder. As Keegan becomes drawn into Claire's privileged world, their professional relationship develops into a dangerous emotional entanglement. At the same time, Keegan's family life begins to unravel while the killer relentlessly searches for the witness who can send him to prison.

Factoids & Trivia

• The project began in 1982, after screenwriter Howard Franklin pitched the story to Ridley Scott at a social gathering. Franklin completed the screenplay later that year.

• The film was developed at several studios before David Puttnam approved it at Columbia Pictures in 1986. It became the first project Puttnam greenlit during his brief tenure as the studio's head of production.

• Principal photography began on December 8, 1986, and lasted thirteen weeks. New York locations included Central Park, the Guggenheim Museum, Bergdorf Goodman, and streets on the Upper East Side.

• Production moved to Burbank Studios in January 1987 for interiors, including Claire Gregory's apartment and Mike Keegan's Queens home.

• The nightclub sequences were filmed aboard the permanently docked Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. The Queen Mary's former swimming pool area was also used for the murder scene.

• The title song, "Someone to Watch Over Me," appears in three different recordings: Sting's version at the beginning, a 1961 jazz recording by Gene Simmons during the film, and Roberta Flack's version over the end credits.

• Sting and Roberta Flack recorded their versions especially for the film. No official soundtrack album was released, although Sting's recording later appeared as the B-side of "Englishman in New York."

• The score includes "Memories of Green," a piece by Vangelis originally associated with Scott's earlier science-fiction film Blade Runner.

• The film marked Lorraine Bracco's first major role in a theatrical feature.