This is an excellent point: it's crucial not to forget that the whole car/license plate/new car/stolen money thing is a red herring. Thus the very fact of trying to adduce meaning to such a detail itself demonstrates how well the distraction has actually worked. --Edward R. O'Neill > I think the reason that the camera holds on the numberplate has most to > do with Hitchcock's adage that the more you go into detail the more an > audience is drawn into the scene; and with how the camera has a > holding-power of its own provided that such power isn't vitiated by > pointless cutaways, etc. > ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu