Was Hooker in on his own arrest?

Yes. If I remember right, didn't Gondorff find out about Snyder chasing Hooker just before that?

I always thought the scene was about Hooker making things look convincing to Snyder while throwing the viewers off-track.

That's what I was thinking too because earlier Hooker showed us how careful he was about going into his room by rigging his door with the piece of paper, yet when Snyder nabs him outside his room Hooker doesn't appear at all cautious. This movie winks at us often, but not so much with the Snyder/Hooker B-story.

... kinda like the Solino story. Ever notice Dimitra Arliss is credited in the main titles as Loretta and not Solino? That would be a non-wink. 

Yes, he was playing along in a plot to get rid of Snyder. If you recall, he was never really arrested--just brought to Polk. From that point forward, Snyder would not be a threat to Hooker or the con, since he was under the impression that Hooker was being "taken care of" by the FBI.

R.I.P., Charles Durning! You were the best! I hope you and Jack Klugman are now shooting a game of pool.



He who conquers himself is mightier than he who conquers a city.

Of course, they had to neutralize Snyder so he wouldn't ruin the whole con.

A heart can be broken, but it still keeps a-beatin' just the same.

Gondorff was aware that Hooker had some past issue he was dealing with and hadn't shared with him. He must have found out that Snyder (Charles Durning) was chasing Hooker all over town. Later we learn that Gondorff had a man tailing Hooker and "watching out" for him (the same guy who shot Loretta). This guy probably warned Gondorff of the situation.

The "FBI Agents" were in on the con. I think initially Gondorff let Hooker sweat it out a bit-he let him believe that the FBI Agents were real. I believe that eventually, in a scene the audience is not privy to, Gondorff comes clean to Hooker and explains to him that the Agents are in on the con. In that same conversation, I believe they planned for Gondorff to "shoot" Hooker after the agent tells Hooker "he can leave now" as it would appear Gondorff believes Hooker has betrayed him to the FBI. Everybody in the room after Lonnegan left (including the two FBI agents) was in on the con. The only people who weren't in on the con were Snyder- the cop chasing Hooker (Charles Durning), Lonnergan and his goons.

I first saw this movie in a theater in 1973, when it first came out-I was eleven. Admittedly, it has taken several viewings for me to understand all the twists and turns of the plot. When I finally figured it all out my admiration for the film soared-the script is outstanding. In the past I had focused on the acting and the set design-now I realize what an amazing script they had to work with as well.
"Gentlemen you can't fight in here!" "This is the war room!" Dr. Strangelove

Yes, he was in on it. The FBI agent had two parts to play: get Snyder off Hooker's back so as not to ruin the con...and to then hustle Lonnigan out of Shaw's place after the "shooting".

However, the reason anyone might question if Hooker was in on it, is because they had to make it appear that Hooker wasn't in on it for us the audience.

Therefore in the end, you really might think that Hooker and Gondorf have a falling out, and that Hooker really might have ratted out Gondorf to save his own ass...setting up the surprise ending.



Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?

Of course. Their fake shooting at the end was supposed to be about Hooker selling out Gondorff. If he knew about the fake shooting - which he clearly did - then he would have needed to know about the fake meeting with Polk.

http://tinyurl.com/nqdpspm

Yes, Hooker knew what was going on. That whole scene was for Snyder's benefit to make him believe that Hooker was necessary to the FBI so he'd leave him alone.