One of the most effective locations was a large antique store, Paris on Ponce, where the pre-credit sequence was filmed, as well as the scenes of the waterfront café. The Apache Dance was a notorious spectacle in the 1910s and '20s among tourists slumming in the Parisian underworld. This version was choreographed by Sandra L. Hughes, working from photographs and text by Maurice Mouvet, one of the dancers who is credited with popularizing the sadomasochistic tango. The Apache Dance was reenacted in numerous Hollywood films of the mid 20th century, but seldom with such a degree of historic authenticity.

Both dancers are wearing wigs designed by Montgomery Schuth, who was a crucial figure in achieving a tone of historic authenticity. Schuth barbered approximately thirty heads, designed and fitted more than twenty wigs, and crafted an assortment of moustaches, beards and sideburns. These pieces were applied by supervising makeup artist Pamela Tripp. Costume designer Sean Patton researched clothing styles for the subplots' varying historical periods (from the 1880s to early 1920s) and insured the historical cohesion of costume, makeup and hair.