Hidden Significance of Slagel's Call

[Monty J]

Arguably the most important scene in the novel is where Nick takes a phone call intended for Gatsby implicating him in an illicit bond scheme (IX, 174):

"This is Slagel speaking. ..."
"Yes?" The name was unfamiliar.
"Hell of a note, isn't it? Get my wire?"
"There haven't been any wires."
Young Parke's in trouble," he said rapidly. "They picked him up when he handed the bonds over the counter. They got a circular from New York giving 'em the numbers just five minutes before. What d'you know about that, hey? You never can tell in these kick towns---"
"Hello!" I interrupted breathlessly. "Look here--this isn't Mr. Gatsby. Mr. Gatsby's dead."
There was a long silence at the other end of the wire followed by an exclamation...then a squawk as the connection was broken.

Gatsby is a key player in a scam to peddle worthless bonds and his opulent lifestyle has been financed in part by stealing from widows and orphans. Here are links to the one film that shows Nick taking that call:

Youtube (at about 1:22 in): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK226...
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210719/...

Counterfeit or stolen bonds, when presented for redemption, would not be paid because the serial numbers would be checked against a list of "hot" (stolen) items.

If a "small-town" bank's trust department bought Gatsby's bonds on behalf of widows and orphans, Gatsby would get paid, but the interest coupons submitted for redemption every six months would not, and the widows and orphans whose trust accounts owned the bonds would go hungry and get evicted.

To an informed reader, it should be clear at this point that the purpose of Gatsby's parties was not to attract Daisy but instead to peddle bonds to unsuspecting partygoers. "Most were brought" according to the owl-eyed man. Gatsby tried several times to recruit Nick, a bond salesman, to go to work for him. Nick wisely declined.

But four of the five films based on the novel do not even show the Slagel scene, and the major academic works I have read missed it as well. Are these people just careless or has there been a concerted effort to conceal something that would reflect poorly on Wall Street?

Could Wall Street have an influence on academia and Hollywood?

[Geoffrey]

Or maybe they're all cut from the same cloth, Monty. They're conservatives.

[Monty J]

Geoffrey wrote: "Or maybe they're all cut from the same cloth, Monty. They're conservatives."

Good point. Trump has unmasked the neo-Konservative as someone with a larcenous heart and corrupted values. They put him in office, so he represents them.

[Geoffrey]

Me. me, me and the rest of youse, a distant second. That's the motto and they assuage their guilty senses by throwing a few bucks in the direction of United Way.

[Tamara]

Monty J wrote: "Arguably the most important scene in the novel is where Nick takes a phone call intended for Gatsby implicating him in an illicit bond scheme (IX, 174):"This is Slagel speaking. ..."
"Yes?" The nam..."

Agreed.
And thank you, Monty J! You made me reconsider the true meaning of the "stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles" whom Jordan and Nick discover drunk in the library. At first blush his: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬?. . . 𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. . . “𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭—𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥."
The drunk guest mentions Belasco and weaving that question of what-is-real here vs. what-is-counterfeit.
Gatsby's bonds-- it turns out-- were only a "nice durable cardboard."