Based on a story by Erle Stanley Gardner titled "Fugitive Gold" that was serialized in the New York Herald Tribune's Sunday edition supplement "This Week" magazine from May 26 to July 7, 1935. The working title of this film was Fugitive Gold.
The $15,000 check that Bill gives his girlfriend upon breaking their engagement is worth over $317,000 in 2022.
Virginia Selton (Margaret Callahan) drives a 1935 LaSalle Model 50 convertible coupe, selling at about $1175 at the time, now valued in the $100,000+ range. Only 874 were made.
$500,000 is worth $9.07 million in 2018. Gold was worth $35.00 per troy ounce in 1936, so the $500,000 of gold would be about 14,285 troy ounces. The 2018 value of gold is about $1200 per troy ounce, for a gold value of about $17,142,000. (The highest value of gold was $1664.00 in 2015, for a total value of $23,770,240.)
The $2.57 for the 10 gallons of gas is about $54.40 in 2022.