# Scene from "Background to Danger"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-from-background-to-danger/976174>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [December 7, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-from-background-to-danger/976174 "2022-12-07T23:27:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-from-background-to-danger/976174/1 "2022-12-07T23:27:31Z")

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(starting at time index 38:00)  
[​​ ​background to danger scene - Video Search Results (yahoo.com)](https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrEqUVkZPRiKDMFse80nIlQ;_ylu=c2VjA3NlYXJjaAR2dGlkAw--;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTcwMARfcgMyBGFjdG4DY2xrBGNzcmNwdmlkAzM2TlVuakV3TGpLRmNTbm1ZbDltMFFSTU1qWXdNUUFBQUFDZzJ1OEoEZnIDeWhzLWltYWdlYWR2YW4taW1hZ2VhZHZhbl8wMDcEZnIyA3NhLWdwBGdwcmlkA3hmRjJpMU5pVFVPOUVTV3FNb01ubkEEbl9yc2x0AzYwBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgN2aWRlby5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzMyBHF1ZXJ5A2JhY2tncm91bmQlMjB0byUyMGRhbmdlciUyMHNjZW5lBHRfc3RtcAMxNjYwMTgzNjcz?p=background+to+danger+scene&ei=UTF-8&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av%2Cm%3Asa&fr=yhs-imageadvan-imageadvan_007&hsimp=yhs-imageadvan_007&hspart=imageadvan&type=184_iw002_dm0001edge#id=1&vid=bd2af2059f89ecd2bf300898cfd3ff87&action=view)  
George Raft’s character walks into a tobacconist’s shop and, due to being a secret agent, talks in code to shop owner about Polo cigarettes.  
Being unfamiliar of said brand, George writes out the word POLO on a sheet of paper, which the shop owner looks at _upside down._  
Does the upside down POLO have some secret meaning in Russian/cyrillic?

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**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-from-background-to-danger/976174/2 "2022-12-07T23:39:12Z")

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“I will not buy this tobacconist, it is scratched.”

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**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-from-background-to-danger/976174/3 "2022-12-08T00:11:49Z")

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If there were a mirror involved, the upside-down “L” and capital “P” would look like Cyrillic letters, but I don’t know Russian anyhow.