MovieChat Forums > The Anderson Tapes (1971) Discussion > Why is Anderson under surveillance?

Why is Anderson under surveillance?

posted 8 years ago by Bilwick1
6 replies | jump to latest

This may have been asked before, and it may be explained in the movie (in a scene I might have missed due to distractions at home while watching it on television), but I don't understand why Duke Anderson seems to have been under surveillance from the moment he was released from prison. (And maybe before, since the watchers needed time to set up the tapes, the microphones, etc.) By the time Duke visits his wife, the place is already bugged as if the authorities knew from the get-go that he was going to plan a heist and possibly what that heist might be. Did I miss something?

[–] PenTheater 8 years ago

Actually he isn't everyone else was, that's the kicker.

Ephemeron.

[–] Bilwick1 8 years ago

You reply is mostly blacked out.

[–] McQueen1980 8 years ago

if you put your over the black part u might see it

he said he wasnt under surveillance, they even said they dont care about him

it was the mob they were watching and a couple of others

[–] Bilwick1 8 years ago

Thanks! I didn't know you could do that.

[–] walkingf00l 8 years ago

Yeah, it's not made super clear in the film, but all the surveillance was being done by different people for different reasons. The wire tap in Ingrid's apartment was by a private eye hired by the rich guy who set her up in the apartment. The FBI were watching the Black Panthers building (where Spencer lived). Narcotics were watching "the Kid" because of his drug dealing history. The surveillance in the restaurant (with the wired waiter) was by the IRS, looking into possible mob tax evasion. And the surveillance on the antique shop was also set up by the FBI, investigating the transport of stolen property over state lines.

Some of these set-ups were legal (like the one at the antique shop, where we see the FBI obtain a warrant from a judge), but some were clearly illegal.

The big "joke" is that all this surveillance was going on, but no one could figure out a big robbery was going down at the Central Park building.

[–] johnmarti59 (2356) 5 years ago

So, any which way you looked at it, Anderson was fuked from the start.