Maybe it was just me, but this movie has the feel of being overly edited, as if much footage was cut out, this is only my speculation, but does anybody have any insight?
shareI watched the film today and I agree with you. Although I enjoyed the movie, it was poorly edited in parts.
share[deleted]
I tend to think that the writer/producer was the problem, and that the ending with Milland and the girl cracking jokes as they drive into the sunset must have made Lang want to vomit. Still, anyone who has see Spione or the Mabuse films couldn't miss Lang's style, which is even more characteristic here than it was in Lang's version of Rogue Male--a much better movie on the whole.
shareYes, there's a bit near the beginning where Neale complains to the private investigator both about the blind man assaulting him and stealing his cake on the train, and about having his hotel room ransacked: when was there anything about a hotel room? This seems like something that got edited out.
shareI think this could have been a great noir, of the caliber of The Third Man, but it was badly hurt by the editing, writing, and undoubtedly studio interference with Lang's vision.
"What's the most you ever lost in a coin toss?"
A note on the 'comedy ending': the abrupt end reminded me very much of Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (second version), which also ends a tense spy thriller with a similarly abrupt joke.
I didn't mind the ending really, although it's not really in keeping with Lang's style. I must admit though that on watching the DVD last night I replayed the final scene a few times just to make sure I didn't imagine it.