Was there an alternate ending?
Am I mis-remembering or was there another ending that explains how Frog 1 got away etc?
shareYou mean the title cards/epilogue at the end of the film? That's in the standard version of the film. There is, however, a TV edit which features one last line from Doyle: "I'm going to get that son of a bitch if it takes me the rest of my life!" - this line is followed by the gunshot and fade to black which concludes the film.
shareThe real Frog One got away from the police in a similar way. One second, he was driving down East End Avenue, with dozens police in cars incognito all along the street waiting to pounce; a second later, Frog One's car had slipped through the dragnet and dissolved into traffic and drove away, never to be seen again.
shareLooks like he committed the perfect crime after all.
shareYes and no. The real-life criminal, Jean Jehan (a Corsican with French citizenship) found his way back to France - which had no formal extradition treaty with the U.S - and lived out his days there.
However, the French authorities (tipped off by U.S government officials) were now on to him. His assets in France were effectively seized, he couldn't leave French soil, and he coudn't get access to the money in his Swiss bank account. His days as a successful criminal were over. He died in comparative poverty, kept under permanent surveillance and effective (if unofficial) house arrest by the French police.
The heroin seized by the Narcotics Bureau in New York was later stolen from a secure police lock-up. This was later revealed to be part of a massive case of police corruption.
So yes, crime does pay for some: but ironically not for the criminal mastermind who started the whole enterprise.
Good show, duke-verity. Do you have a date of death for Jehan. I think he lived until the 1980's.
share