MovieChat Forums > The Cheap Detective (1978) Discussion > Cut scenes -- and characters?

Cut scenes -- and characters?


I just saw this film. Unless I failed to observe them, there seems to be a whole slew of minor characters who are credited but don't seem to be in the final version (as well as a couple who aren't credited but are present!).

Where's the hat check girl, croupiers, the elegant ladies and ladies of the night, the military wives and man, the dancers, the cigarette girl and the German singer (at least)?

On the other hand, the old couple murdered listening at the wall and the murdered elevator operator aren't credited even though the other victims are.

Anybody know?

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Don't know and don't care.

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Then why'd you bother to answer?

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[deleted]

I really think there was at least a little bit of pre-release cutting cos there is no 'Hat Check Girl' in the finished film, although Carole Wells is billed in the opening credits. Just watched the movie last night for the 5th or 6th time and I can only assume someone felt whatever scene she was in mucked up the pacing of the movie along with those other minor characters who are billed, but who we don't see.

Phil Silvers has 1 line at the end of the movie. That's not much!

Also > There's a scene where Peter Falk tells Eileen Brennan that he warned her to watch out for the Paul Williams character even tho it's not shown earlier in the film.

I'm thinking maybe it was thought whatever the finished film was at the time had a couple un-necessary scenes too many and were c/u/t. Note there's 2 editors credited over the opening titles.

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That's a great answer. Too bad the other guy had to be a d-bag in answering. I wondered about that scene where Lou tells Betty deBoop he warned her about the Kid.
The pacing is one of the pluses of this movie, keeping a convoluted plot moving fast and tight, so when it does slow down for the lines and gags to sink in, the movie isn't bogged down. You would think they would have proofread the credits, though, unless the person was getting paid anyway, and having a credit helped them. Those old-school movie/TV guys were more about giving a newbie a leg up to a SAG card in the old days than now.

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I think what happened with the credits was the movie was completed and then, for whatever reason (probably for pacing reasons but I don't know for sure), there were those 'last-minute' cuts made and the studio didn't bother to go back and re-do the credits that now had actors listed who were no longer in the 'finished' film.

> Same thing with the theatrical version of EVILSPEAK, the 1981 horror movie. I've seen it many times and there's a credit listing for a character not seen in the finished film. 'LEONARD D'JOHN' as 'Tony' played the pigkeeper in what was intended to be the completed film, but had more edits done shortly before the film was released. It wasn't just gore that was cut from the released film; there were several dialogue scenes chopped out as well. And Leonard D'John's small part was one of them. Having finally seen the full film just a couple years ago with all the gore -and- character scenes intact 'Tony' talks to 'Stanley Coopersmith' (Clint Howard) before he starts feeding the pigs.

I guess it's sometimes considered not worth the time, cost and energy to go back and re-structure the opening and/or closing credit sequences for last-minute edits before a film is released.

Another movie with last-minute cuts: THE APPLE (1980).

Remember what happened with THE SHINING in 1980. A 4-minute sequence at the very end of the movie was cut out after the movie had been released apparently on Stanley Kubrick's orders. And MARATHON MAN had a fight scene with Roy Scheider excised at the last-minute.


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