When it first cuts to Morocco, it shows a shot of an empty room, then it's filled with dancers and commoners, with an added white fog on the ground. One of the people at the table says "It's good to be in good company for a change" implying that he will always be in good company. Plus the fact that the 2 main characters survived certain death and that they were happy together.
shareThat's a really interesting interpretation. Maybe God let them think they were in Morocco conning people because they'd be happier that way then if they thought they were in actual heaven.
shareSure, except it totally changed the dynamic of the whole story, a decision Pfeiffer did not actually thought through.
See, had they gone with the book, it would have fallen in line with the other stories Woolrich/Irish, a great master of the noir genre has produced.
I have to address an important historical fact, which does fall in line with a character, who is a creature of habit, in this case, Luis: it was Spanish Morocco, not merely Morocco. Not yet by name, it was in the 20th century, but de facto since 1884, so it would totally make sense for a grifter to exist in a colony, where his language is spoken, but far enough from the colonizer to raise suspicion. Several of such examples existed in the British Empire, as did in China.
This brings up the second point, Bonnie being the unreliable narrator. We don't get to meet Luis in a non-flashback until Morocco, so much of what she says can be interpreted as a total fabrication to deceive the priest into helping her. If you view it as the actual Julia not having a sister, but a brother... the role of "Billy" gets a new light. Think about it, there may have been a Vargas with a rich plantation, except that guy never got to meet Julia, because "Luis" met her, and killed her. "Billy" being on their tail, conned by "Luis" could have been earnestly trying to find out what happened to her sister, only to culminate in the confrontation, which got him killed. So, "Luis" being out of harm's way on a supposed poisoning (we'll never know in the movie, since the monk is already on her spell, reacting to her leading conversation) bolts from the hospital, and she breaks out. I've read the disbelief of some on how she escaped, only for people to forget the robe of a Franciscan monk is large enough to conceal a body in a time before electric lights.
As they were, they left Cuba for new tricks in new places, in that sense, yes, it was their heaven, because nobody knew them as grifters. The one morcel I took as truth in her story in light of this ending was the poker game, when they were caught, revealing that they're better in conning people, than they are with card games. If you think about her saying they both escaped after becoming 14, but played father and daughter... "Billy" would have had to use some heavy makeup to achieve it with them being the same age. What if only Bonnie was the only one who bolted, and "Luis" came across her in a Mississippi poker game? He could pretend being at least her uncle to avoid suspicion.
I live in the Gordius Apartment Complex, my interior designer was M.C. Esher.