Between the bank robbery and the phone tap, there seems to be an abrupt jump. I'm not even sure we know how they got the idea to tap the phone. Does anyone know if this film got demoted to a B bill and thus heavily edited? The rest of the film has a much smoother pace, more like the Boetticher I know and love.
shareYeah, that was kind of abrupt. What motivated them to wiretap Corey? Nothing beforehand provides any context for it. In fact, I couldn't tell from the voices they were hearing who in fact they were wiretapping. But it's still a very good movie.
They may have cut footage that bridged that gap before the release (a very common practice) but it had nothing to do with "demoting" this film to B status. They didn't cut (or add to) films to reflect their supposed level as an A or B movie. Actually this film seems to have fallen somewhere in between -- not a B, but not a top-ranked A either. A "lesser A" if you will.
Also, in those days the director would usually have had little if any input into the editing of a film, especially if he was just hired to direct it rather than be involved in all aspects of the production. It may be that Budd Boetticher had little control over how the film was cut and presented.