I Saw the Whole Thing story
A mystery novelist is accused of going through a stop sign, then hitting a young motorcyclist. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock. Story by: Henry Cecil (story), Henry Slesar (teleplay).
15 total · 1 choice · 10 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the inclination to believe what one wants to believe | choice | All of the witnesses were apparently sincere, but some may simply have convinced themselves that they saw what they wanted to have seen. The army man wanted to convict a sports car driver because such a driver had killed his three year old son. A young woman had changed her testimony in the novelist's favor after she came to credit the novelist with indirectly having saved her from putting up her baby for adoption. |
| creative writing | major | The protagonist was a crime fiction writer by profession, and said that this was a reason he wanted to be is own defense council. |
| dangerous driving | major | Either the sports car or the motor cycle had been driven recklessly, or the hit-and-run accident at the heart of the story could not have happened. |
| husband and wife | major | The novelist was concerned for his wife, who was about to give birth in the hospital. Indeed, it is revealed that he was taking the blame in a hit-and-run accident for her. |
| legal occupation | major | There were a judge and a prosecutor in the courtroom. |
| peer pressure | major | A point was made several times that some of the witnesses might be influenced to report the same as the others, despite not having witnessed all the facts first hand themselves. |
| reliability of eyewitness testimony | major | All of the witnesses were apparently sincere, but some may simply have convinced themselves that they saw what they wanted to have seen. The army man wanted to convict a sports car driver because such a driver had killed his three year old son. A young woman had changed her testimony in the novelist's favor after she came to credit the novelist with indirectly having saved her from putting up her baby for adoption. |
| sacrifice for a loved one | major | In the end it was revealed that the novelist had been taking the blame in order to protect his pregnant and excitable wife. |
| taking the blame for someone else's crime | major | The novelist took the blame for his wife in order to protect her from the stress of a trial. The judge threatened the novelist with being held in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions while on the witness stand. |
| what if I killed someone by accident | major | The novelist was charged with involuntary manslaughter after news arrived that the victim of his apparent hit-and-run had succumbed to his injuries. |