Bela Lugosi's first film with Fox was the site of an on-set tragedy

In a dangerously elaborate maneuver reminiscent of the importance of safety rules on film sets, manned cameras mounted on two Detroiter planes were meant to capture the aerial performance of Baxter stuntman Jacob Triebwasser. The film's director, Kenneth Hawkes, was among the men aboard one of the planes. Alongside him were assistant director Max Gold, two cameramen, two assistant cameramen, two prop handlers and the pilots flying the two planes. All perished in a crash that the third plane, which was holding Triebwasser and traumatized racing driver Roscoe Turner, avoided. In a detail that runs a dark parallel to the film's story, eyewitnesses reported that two men did not parachute out before the plane hit the water.

A coroner found there was no planned plot of ill will or mechanical malfunction, and that the pilots had experience flying planes for film productions . Rather, the glare of sunlight reflecting off the water created a perfect storm of blinding and disorienting visibility that caused the collision when the planes turned on each other at the same time. The scene was the last in the film to be shot, and "Such Men Are Dangerous" premiered shortly after the tragedy. Although newspapers reported on the incident, the publication generated little controversy compared to the on-set deaths that occur today. In a bold move for Fox, one of the film's posters depicts the skydiving scene that led to the crash. Lugosi, despite directly avoiding misfortune and gaining acclaim for his performance, never really ceased to be typecast as a creepy villain, but remained a secondary player in the darker instances of 'Hollywood.