Just been going through some files and found this transcript of the Coogan's Bluff deleted scene. It appears after the early bath tub scene when Coogan is told to report to the Sheriff's office where he receives his orders to pick up Ringerman from New York. I'm lucky to have a full print of Coogan's Bluff on 16mm which actually contains this scene. Unfortunately the scene has never been restored for any Home format, which is a great shame. It would of been nice to see Universal restore it for the Blu-ray release, or perhaps include it as a bonus feature...
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| The scene did appear on this French lobby Card |
Scene: The
sheriff’s office. The sheriff looks out the window, sees Coogan’s Jeep with the
two bullet holes in the wind-shield, he can see Coogan coming his way. Coogan,
outside the office door, knocks.
SHERIFF:
Come in.
Coogan
enters, wearing shades.
SHERIFF:
Forty-seven minutes late.
COOGAN: So?
SHERIFF: So
you know what a new wind-shield costs? Installed? $44.50.
COOGAN as he
takes off his shades: Is that what you want to ... talk to me about?
SHERIFF: Not
quite.
He goes to
desk, takes out papers.
SHERIFF:
Governor’s warrant. Duplicate flight, duplicate record, James Ringerman.
COOGAN:
Ringerman?
He takes the
papers.
SHERIFF as
he takes a cigar from a box on his desk and lights it: Remember Ringerman?
Discharged soldier, stole a car down at Bisby? Armed robbery, service station?
Picked up a little blonde some place. We found her dead, motel, busted neck.
Apprehended November 3, escaped custody, November 9. Last fall. They picked him
up in New York last week; they’re holding him for us. For you, that is.
COOGAN: Why
me, sheriff?
SHERIFF:
You’re the one who pinched him.
COOGAN: And
you’re the one who lost him.
SHERIFF:
Heffurnan lost him.
COOGAN: Well
then, send Heffurnan.
SHERIFF: Are
you telling me who to send?
COOGAN: I'm telling you that I was out there for three days.
SHERIFF: So?
You had a nice, refreshing bath. Here’s the necessary information, where to go
and who to see when you get there. Plus airline ticket vouchers. Get thrashing,
Deputy.
COOGAN: What
is it with me, sheriff?
SHERIFF:
Well, let’s just say that I don’t like deputies who bust up my vehicles. You
got a per diem in New York, I wanna see the bills. Any complaints?
COOGAN: No,
no. I figure I came out ahead.
He helps
himself to one of the sheriff’s cigars.
COOGAN exiting,
smiling: You could have asked me to pay for the wind-shield.
Below: From my cuttings collection, I came across this from an old Radio Times when the BBC were showing Coogan's Bluff, it dates back some 30 years ago... I thought there was always something rather ironic about the image they decided to use, as it is from the cut sequence in the film.
3 comments:
I remember this scene vividly from when this movie used to air on WOR channel 9 in NY/NJ back in the 70's, which is where I first saw Coogan's Bluff, several times in reruns. There's another scene missing, during the part where Coogan and Susan Clark are walking around outside in an area overlooking the Hudson, near the Cloisters. She's telling him some story that I only vaguely remember the contents of, but I think it involved a woman also named Coogan. who lived in a mansion nearby that area. There's an obvious jump cut in that scene now. I'd LOVE to see the complete film with these scenes as I remember them put back in. Thanks for posting the contents of the sheriff's office scene. Much of that dialog I did remember, especially when the sheriff tells him he had a nice, refreshing bath, and the name Heffernan that they both mentioned.
I first saw this film on Philly's Channel 17 in the late 70s. A few years later, I taped it. Then in the 90s, I was renting a pile of Clint Eastwood movies and making copies. In most instances, these were big upgrades from the local TV station copies. NOT this one. At some point, I realized that the MIDDLE of the scene in the park, where the name of the movie is mentioned, was MISSING. Only, not knowing this, I'd inadvertently TAPED OVER the earlier copy of the film. DAMN.
More recently, I got the 2021 Kino Lorber Blu-Ray. Now this IS a major upgrade from whatever it was I rented in the 90s. Crystal-clear picture & sound, IN WIDESCREEN, with 2 audio commentaries, an interview with Clint Eastwood, a feature on Don Stroud, and about 8 different trailers of Eastwood films.
But the middle of the scene in the park is STILL missing. I looked online, and read somewhere there were 3 scenes cut from the film-- apparently, BEFORE it got to theatres! I don't know if that's true or not. In the late 70s, with the advent of cable channels like HBO, it became a fad for networks to add "out-takes" to movies they'd run, as a way to get people to watch and see things they could not see on cable. Most out-takes DESERVED to be cut from the films. But I'd never heard of anyone doing this for syndication. Apparently... they did.
Thanks for posting the transcript. Now I know what Ringerman was arrested for in the first place, which is NEVER mentioned anywhere else in the film. The 3rd scene is reportedly at the hospital, after Ringerman's been re-captured. I don't know if I ever saw ALL 3 missing scenes (maybe I did, but it's been decades ago), but I wonder if that scene explains why Susan Clark's character bothered to say goodbye at the end, when in the previous scene, she was so pissed off at him. Also, did Lee J. Cobb have a change of heart and use his influence to have Ringerman RELEASED early? It sure seems like it, even without seeing it.
YES, someone DEFINITELY needs to find these scenes and RE-INSERT all 3 of them into the film. Perhaps a future Blu-Ray can have BOTH versions of the film. After all, Shout Factory did this with Corman's THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964). If they do, I hope they'll do a BETTER job than Shout Factory did. The "extended" version is TOO DARK all the way thru, the sound is cranked up too loud (this is compared to the other version right there on the same disc), and right at the very end, the end of the end credits are CUT OFF ABRUPTLY, completely ruining what on the regular version was an absolute MASTERPIECE of a set of end credits. Those IDIOTS!!!!!
Great post, many thanks, yes it's sad no-one thought to sought these scenes out for the blu-ray, lazy work basically, I have a complete 16mm print, so I'm sure there are prints available in the various vaults, perhaps one day.
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