When Sullivan and the girl are in the shelter, Sullivan's special shoes with the ID cards are taken from him and replaced by a pair of ratty shoes.
Later when Sullivan is attacked by the other bum the bum takes his money. The bum is hit by a train while collecting money and they assume it is Sullivan because he has the ID card on him.
Or is the bum whole stole Sullivan's shoes a different bum and he simple got killed by coincidence?
I noticed this as well when I first watched the movie and it's quite confusing. The bum who stole his shoes was a different one from the one who stole the money. It would be pretty amazing if both bums were killed (we see the money thief get hit by the train) at the same time.
A bigger plot hole is the fact that Veronica Lake was with Joel McCrea when his shoes were stolen so she wouldn't suggest that his shoes contained the card identifying him. HOWEVER we must remember that not long after that McCrea and Lake had "Enough" of living with the poor and retreated back to Hollywood. Joel later decided to hand out the $1,000 in five-dollar bills to the destitute as a thank you and for reasons not clear decided to dress back up again in rags - this wasn't necessary since he had no need to pose as a bum if he were just there to hand out money. Presumably once again his butler had his identity card put into his shoes this go round (why? he was only going out for the night) BUT we mever see the money thief steal the shoes from him and I don't recall Joel waking up barefooted after being knocked out by the thief. So whatever is supposed to have happened, it is a big plot hole that isn't made clear.
Yes, it is a bit confusing. Here is the explanation that makes the most sense to me:
There is only one pair of shoes containing ID cards. These shoes were stolen from Sullivan when he and "The Girl" stayed overnight at the mission. The man who was sleeping next to Sullivan is the presumed thief. Some time later - perhaps a few days - Sullivan returns to that same area to pass out $5 bills to the poor. It is at this point that Sullivan is mugged and his money is stolen. The mugger is then hit and killed by a train and we see a shot of the money and a shoe lying on the tracks. So the mugger was wearing the same shoes containing Sullivan's ID cards.
But how did the mugger get the shoes? Was he the same man who first took the shoes from Sullivan? It really doesn't matter. The mugger could have stolen them from the first man who stole them from Sullivan. Those shoes could have changed hands - or should I say feet - more than once.
How did The Girl (Veronica Lake) know about the ID card in the shoe? Sullivan must have told her at some point. Yes, The Girl was with Sullivan when his shoes were stolen. So when the morgue called the studio asking if Sullivan had any ID on him, why did she tell them to look in the shoes? You have to conclude that she simply forgot about the theft. It was late, she was tired, worried and wasn't thinking straight.
We don't see the shoe thief sleeping in the mission, just his feet encased in the shabby shoes later left behind for Sullivan. It's possible this is the same guy, as he can be seen in the service scene just before, a few rows in front of Sullivan, when the camera pans over him. It's also possible the shoe thief is someone else entirely; I can totally envision the butler character played by Eric Blore taking the same precaution as before when Sullivan goes off on his last mission in costume, and the hobo assailant taking off Sullivan's presumably nicer shoes in the boxcar after pulling him from our view.
What's more interesting, and alarmingly coincidental, is that Sullivan does get a good look at his attacker much earlier in the film: He's the quieter of the two hobos in the first boxcar Sullivan and the Girl enter when they begin their first expedition together.
Positively the same bum!
share