Hitchcock's Secret Agent

Cafe Society
1

Great cast: John Gielgud, so young I could only recognize him by his nose. Also Peter Lorre and Robert Young. The plot was a bit hard to follow, and poor sound quality didn’t help. I more or less understood what was going on, except for the end when …

Lorre and Gielgud have figured out Robert Young is the real bad guy. (It was only their second guess, and the first guy they mistakenly assassinated, though innocent, was pretty old anyway.) All three survive a train wreck, but Young is penned in the wreckage. Lorre, the professional assassin, snickering, puts his gun within Young’s reach. Young picks it up and just manages to kill a smug looking Lorre before dying himself.

What’s up with that? That last scene made no sense to me at all. Can somebody explain Lorre’s motivation to me? Please use small words.

2

Lorre’s character assumed Young’s character was going to die from his injuries, and was cynically offering him a way to end his suffering. Young’s character has a last moment change of conscience, and with his dying breath does one heroic thing.

3

No, that’s not it. First of all, Young and Lorre are enemies, so Young didn’t have a heroic change of heart. He had been intending to murder Lorre before the train wreck, and thanks to Lorre was able to finish the job afterwards. Lorre also doesn’t seem surprised that Young is able to pick up the gun and take aim. After being shot, he actually looks pleased.