In The Hitchcock Romance: Love and Irony in Hitchcock's Films, Lesley Brill points to the similarity in the endings of THE 39 STEPS, YOUNG AND INNOCENT, SABOTEUR AND TO CATCH A THIEF. The police do not simply get the ‘right man’ (woman in TO CATCH A THIEF), and so free the falsely accused hero for his reunion with the heroine. Their role goes further: it's as if they supervise the happy ending: e.g. in Saboteur a policeman helps Barry to safety on the Statue of Liberty and into Pat's arms; in TO CATCH A THIEF the police drive Francie up to John Robie's villa for their reunion (Brill 1988: 26-28).

Brill's argument could be extended to those Hitchcock films – falsely accused man and otherwise – where, in the penultimate scene (usually), the police or their equivalents set up the final scene reunion of hero and heroine. In The Lodger, the detective Joe, Daisy's previous boyfriend, helps save the Lodger from a lynching. In REBECCA, Col. Julyan clears (the in fact guilty) Maxim of responsibility for Rebecca's death. IN STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, the police identify Bruno as Miriam's murderer and clear Guy. IN REAR WINDOW, the police catch Jeff as he falls from his apartment window and arrest Thorwald. In NORTH BY NORTHWEST, the state troopers (supervised by the CIA's Professor) save Roger and Eve on Mount Rushmore and arrest Vandamm, Eve's former lover. In Torn Curtain, the Swedish immigration authorities play an equivalent role, welcoming Michael and Sarah into the safety of the ‘free world’. THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934) shows a family example: in the last shot, the police gently lower a sobbing Betty down through the skylight to reunite her with her parents.

Policemen who have played a major role during the film may even be present at the end. In DIAL M FOR MURDER, Chief Inspector Hubbard – who set up the plan to expose Tony as a murderous husband – is the subject of the shot which winds up the narrative.