Movie detail: Cloudy throws a straw hat onto the back shelf of the car – a real life tactic used by police to signal to other law enforcement officers that they are working undercover.

After being introduced to Popeye’s captain (the real life Popeye, whom this movie is based on – Eddie Egan) we also see how the rest of the police force view Popeye. Mulderig and Klein (the real life Cloudy – Sonny Valentino):

Mulderig: “His brilliant hunches cost the life of a good cop.”

We are never given additional details on this, however judging by Popeye’s methods, it can’t be far from the truth. He is a drunken, violent, racist man, who frequents places which you would normally associate with criminal types. Is this the hero of the story? The bar he leaves: a dive underneath a bridge, looks like the armpit of New York. The signs are all wrong; he’s more like a cockroach than a cop. How did this man ever get a badge? Does New York hire cops like this, or are cops shaped this way by this urban hellhole?

This idea is hinted at shortly after when Cloudy jimmies a door lock with a card. Could this suggest a criminal past? Or, in this world, perhaps the cops are required to have the same skills as the criminals in order to catch them, but if that’s the case, then what’s stopping them from being dirty?

A man’s home is his castle, and Popeye’s apartment, much like the man himself, is a shambles. It also serves to contrast the two cops: Cloudy is poised and professional, turned out and ready for action. Popeye is handcuffed to his own bed, most probably having abused his position as a cop to take the bicycle girl home with him. As Cloudy looks through Popeye’s scrapbook, he comments on both the book, and Popeye:

Cloudy: “This scrapbook is like you, a mess.”

This really brings up the question of why – why is Popeye a cop? How did he become one? Moreover, why is he so obsessed with bringing justice to others at the expense of his own existence?

Cloudy: “Do you want the red or the white?”

Popeye: “Pour it in your ear.”

Popeye’s obsession with bringing criminals to justice is explored in the fine dining scene.

You can see him watching the main bad guy - Charnier. As he stands outside the upper class restaurant, we see a back and forth between the characters – the French suspects dining, and Doyle freezing out in the brutal New York winter. The difference between the two groups cannot be stressed any further – escargot vs. rubbery pizza. Wine vs. coffee, which we see Popeye tip out onto the frozen concrete – judging by Popeye’s taste, we can only imagine how bad it is, yet the bad guys are the ones inside. Could this be the reason for Popeye’s obsession? The look on his face, the determination to bust the French Connection, there’s something beneath the surface, simmering.