MovieChat Forums > Ocean's Eleven (1960) Discussion > Why move the money at all (***spoilers**...

Why move the money at all (spoilers)?

posted 10 years ago by Bob_Schuka
4 replies | jump to latest

So...Josh hid the money at the dump. Nobody else, except maybe the other 10 (9 survivors), knew where it was; in fact, nobody (besides Santos) even knew who pulled the heist. The money never would have been found. The only problem is, Santos wanted half, in exchange for his silence. He was going to call the police if the guys didn't play ball--*regardless* of where the money was hidden.

In other words, Danny & Co.'s challenge was to avoid being ratted out to the authorities...NOT to prevent the money from being discovered. So what would they have really accomplished, if the money HAD been successfully smuggled out of town (inside Tony's casket)?

Am I missing something?

[–] askoz 10 years ago

They obviously didn't want to pay Santos off (why I don't know) and they knew he would call the police eventually, so they had to get rid of the evidence. Had they successfully buried the money in a graveyard in SF there's NO way it would be found. It would probably stay in the same place for 15 years, should they go to prison.

Leaving it at the dump is risky. There is a chance it would be found by people working there or some kids playing around. It would eventually be buried under a mountain of garbage, practically impossible to recover undetected. Rats could eat it!

Also the cops might have made the connection with Josh and the garbage truck (remember he was stopped at the roadblock on the way to the dump)

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

The guys just weren't thinking in the end there.

Reminds me of an early scene in the film in which one of them points out to the others that they aren't thinking as sharply as they did back in 1945. That character was right.

~~
JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] Bob_Schuka 10 years ago

You make some good points, askoz. Granted, the money wasn't supposed to stay at the dump long-term--only long enough for the heat to blow over--but I hadn't considered the "going to prison for 15 years" angle (although it prob wouldn't take very long for the money to become moldy and/or smelly, being buried with a body).

However, it doesn't make sense that the boys would drive to the mortuary in a garbage truck (nice disguise, but...collecting trash in the middle of the night!?) And how'd they get in? Any why was Tony's coffin the only one in the room? Then again, it's only a movie!

[–] daveyh (581) 3 years ago

I've always wondered this too. I watched it again over new year and when they're moving the body from the dump to the morgue, one of them even says something that suggests Santos already knows where the money's hidden.
The explanations already on this thread make sense and it would have only taken a few seconds for some sort of exposition to clue the audience in on why they were doing it or what the plan was afterwards - a quick discussion in the garbage truck on the way there would have done it.
Another possibility is that the guys staking out the train station/morgue would have followed Mrs Bergdorf back to San Francisco (which was supposed to happen that very day), and once they knew where the body was buried, they'd all leave Vegas (before Santos' deadline) and go their separate ways for, say, a few months before meeting in SF to collect the money. Again, though, some exposition would have been nice.

Why move the money at all (***spoilers***)?

Why move the money at all (spoilers)?