MovieChat Forums > Trading Places (1983) Discussion > A Few Questions

A Few Questions

posted 8 years ago by ChristianEdwards81
4 replies | jump to latest

1. Is there a reason Louis didn't figure it out sooner that it was the Dukes that set him up? First you're arrested for a crime you did not commit, drugs a later planted on you, your bank account is suddenly frozen, a man who you known for years (Coleman) turns his back on you, then man you had arrested for attempted robbery (Valentine) is out of jail and now has your job and house. He should've known, especially after Coleman disowned him, that the Dukes with their money and power engineered the whole thing.

2. Did anybody feel sorry for Penelope? Remember she was deceived too. She really did loved Louis and believe he was innocent, until Ophelia pulled that stunt at outside the police station. I believe Todd didn't care about her either, she was just a pawn to him to move up the corporate latter.

3.Did Louis ever get those charges dropped against him, and get his money back from I.R.S.?

[–] schlob77 8 years ago

 Somebody is taking this terrific movie WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too seriously. What ever you think happened is what happened.

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

1. i suppose it was all too much of a shock, he just didn't know what was happening to him. and he had no reason to think the Duke brothers had set him up, as far as he knew they were perfectly satisfied with him. And he was going to marry their niece. It just didn't occur to him.

2. yes, a bit. She seemed quite a decent girl really, and she did go to the police station to bail him out, though it was obviously a horrible experience for her. But She had been talking about Todd rather a lot before all that happened, and it seemed to me like she was a bit torn between them.

3. That's something I hadn't thought of before. The only way i could see the charges being dropped is if the Duke brothers admitted it was all a setup by them. possibly they made some sort of deal with the Dukes, making them an allowance maybe in return for a confession?

i also wonder what happened to the niece. was she suppirted by her uncles? Orvdid she have her own income? would she have been ruined as well? I can't remember if that is ever mentioned.

[–] daveyh (632) a year ago

actually I'd forgotten that Penelope was their niece - she therefore showed a lot of loyalty to Louis sticking by him even for the short time she did in the aftermath. Would have played neater to have her follow her family's wishes and instantly turn her back on him, but I guess that scene outside the prison is needed for him to meet Ophelia.
To answer your question, Todd and the other guys seemed to be trust fund babies so even if Duke&Duke going under left Penelope's entire family ruined, she'd have married in to money and been OK.
Actually I'm now wondering if the guy early on in Coming2America - when they make the brief link to Trading Places - is actually Penelope's son?

[–] daveyh (632) a year ago

my question is - had Valentine not overheard their bathroom discussion (and had Winthorpe not burned bridges with his gun toting stunt at their Christmas party), how were the Duke bros planning to put things right once the experiment was over? Even if they had managed to track down a now homeless Winthorpe and explain the situation to him, would he have come back and could he have looked any of his old associates in the eye again, especially Coleman?
And wouldn't Valentine now know too much to be cut loose and sent back to the streets?
Actually when he was caught in his old office planting the drugs, Randolph was on the brink of telling Winthorpe then before he ran off, in front of Valentine. I'd like to have seen how that would have played out, although Valentine always smelled a rat so at least he'd have now had an explanation as to what was going on.