Re: MYSTERY OF FEDORA SOLVED! (Who knew...)

Posted by K. Allard from dial5.insolwwb.net on December 20, 1999 at 05:35:03:

In Reply to: Re: MYSTERY OF FEDORA SOLVED! (Who knew...) posted by K. Allard on December 20, 1999 at 05:33:57:

oops it's black sloach hat

: I think you meant the last 5 lines for me. He also assumed a black cloack and sloach and formed his own agents living in darkness and fighting crime. Just a follow up

: Interesting
: "Kent Allard"
: Who Knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men

:
: : Same Hat or Different Hat? Well, different, but the same... The answer to this mystery is found in considering several things in the films. To wit (significance follows):
: : 1. The apparent complicity of the town sheriff in letting Panama Hat Guy escape with the cross. (LC)
: : 2. The genial exchange between "Fedora" and young Indy once they are out of sight of Panama Hat Guy. (LC)
: : 3. Fedora's obvious knowledge of where to locate the cross. (LC)
: : 4. Placement of Fedora's fedora on Indy's head in quite an obvious manner in front of his men.
: : 5. Indy's attachment to hat, e.g., risking his arm to grab hat, although he wouldn't need it in a cavern for sun protection. (TOD)
: : 6. Marcus's exhortation, "Rubbish! Ravenwood's no Nazi!" (ROLA)
: : 7. Indy's long association with Ravenwood.

: : The puzzle pieces together point to one obvious fact: Fedora (LC) was actually ABNER RAVENWOOD! He and the sheriff had been working, together with Uncle Sam, to smash the Kaiser's American spy ring. Fedora/Abner was pressed into undercover service when it was discovered that Panama's outside interests lie in collecting loot. Abner infiltrated his organization as a corrupt treasure hunter, and gained his confidence by finding the cross. He was set to travel away to the spy lair when this blundering Indy kid almost upset the works. Abner recognized his potential, however, and although he couldn't outright recruit Indy, his pre-arranged signal (placing the hat) told the watching sheriff that Indy should be brought into the U.S. spy ring. Once Abner and Fedora had split, the sheriff explained to Indy that The Hat would identify him to other agents, and could be used to transmit radio codes, depending on its configuration (e.g., different bands, dye job, reshaping, etc.). The hat actually was interwoven with radioactive threads developed by Thomas Edison, and its transmission frequency could be changed by subtle physical changes (the jacket operated under similar principles).
: : Thus the hat was the same transmission device, yet was altered (as seen in the films) to relay different messages via ultrasonic waves. Very, very sophisticated machinery; this may be why the English "Poets" are so pricey (although I believe that Q Branch found means of disabling the transmission threads before export).
: : THUS Marcus was quickly moved to affirm Abner's patriotism (he knew AR had been a spy before the war). THUS Indy's attachment to the hat, which he knew was his only contact to allied forces should his other tools fail. THUS Indy's long association with Ravenwood, in which Abner trained him both as archaeologist and spy.
: : Abner's "death", mentioned so prominently in ROLA (he even deceived his daughter), was actually another cover story adopted when this master spy changed identities YET AGAIN at the beginning of the 1930s. Note the similarity in code names between "RAVENwood" and a certain WWI pilot known as the "Dark EAGLE". Abner did not die at the outset of the '30s. He merely moved his base of operations to New York City, and frequently assumed the identity of the world-traveling Lamont Cranston...

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: oops it's black sloach hat

: : I think you meant the last 5 lines for me. He also assumed a black cloack and sloach and formed his own agents living in darkness and fighting crime. Just a follow up

: : Interesting
: : "Kent Allard"
: : Who Knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men

: : 
: : : Same Hat or Different Hat?  Well, different, but the same...  The answer to this mystery is found in considering several things in the films.  To wit (significance follows):
: : : 1.  The apparent complicity of the town sheriff in letting Panama Hat Guy escape with the cross.  (LC)
: : : 2.  The genial exchange between "Fedora" and young Indy once they are out of sight of Panama Hat Guy. (LC)
: : : 3.  Fedora's obvious knowledge of where to locate the cross. (LC)
: : : 4.  Placement of Fedora's fedora on Indy's head in quite an obvious manner in front of his men.
: : : 5.  Indy's attachment to hat, e.g., risking his arm to grab hat, although he wouldn't need it in a cavern for sun protection. (TOD)
: : : 6.  Marcus's exhortation, "Rubbish! Ravenwood's no Nazi!" (ROLA)
: : : 7.  Indy's long association with Ravenwood.

: : : The puzzle pieces together point to one obvious fact:  Fedora (LC) was actually ABNER RAVENWOOD!  He and the sheriff had been working, together with Uncle Sam, to smash the Kaiser's American spy ring.  Fedora/Abner was pressed into undercover service when it was discovered that Panama's outside interests lie in collecting loot.  Abner infiltrated his organization as a corrupt treasure hunter, and gained his confidence by finding the cross.  He was set to travel away to the spy lair when this blundering Indy kid almost upset the works.  Abner recognized his potential, however, and although he couldn't outright recruit Indy, his pre-arranged signal (placing the hat) told the watching sheriff that Indy should be brought into the U.S. spy ring.  Once Abner and Fedora had split, the sheriff explained to Indy that The Hat would identify him to other agents, and could be used to transmit radio codes, depending on its configuration (e.g., different bands, dye job, reshaping, etc.).  The hat actually was interwoven with radioactive threads developed by Thomas Edison, and its transmission frequency could be changed by subtle physical changes (the jacket operated under similar principles).  
: : : Thus the hat was the same transmission device, yet was altered (as seen in the films) to relay different messages via ultrasonic waves.  Very, very sophisticated machinery; this may be why the English "Poets" are so pricey (although I believe that Q Branch found means of disabling the transmission threads before export).
: : : THUS Marcus was quickly moved to affirm Abner's patriotism (he knew AR had been a spy before the war).  THUS Indy's attachment to the hat, which he knew was his only contact to allied forces should his other tools fail.  THUS Indy's long association with Ravenwood, in which Abner trained him both as archaeologist and spy.
: : : Abner's "death", mentioned so prominently in ROLA (he even deceived his daughter), was actually another cover story adopted when this master spy changed identities YET AGAIN at the beginning of the 1930s.  Note the similarity in code names between "RAVENwood" and a certain WWI pilot known as the "Dark EAGLE".  Abner did not die at the outset of the '30s.  He merely moved his base of operations to New York City, and frequently assumed the identity of the world-traveling Lamont Cranston...

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