There Was an Old Woman story
Couple Frank and Lorna Branwell go to the mansion of eccentric Monica Laughton to rob her. The plan goes awry because Laughton is crazy and wholly unresponsive to their threats. The Bramwells become tired and frustrated, because they cannot find any money and there seems to be no food in the house. In desperation, they eat a batch of freshly-made muffins, not knowing that they are filled with rat poison. Laughton's fortune turns out to be inside a handbag that she carries everywhere with her. Directed by: Robert Stevenson. Story by: Jerry Hackady & Harold Hackady, Marian Cockrell.
9 total · 5 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| greedy heir | major | Miss Laughton was under the mistaken impression that Frank and Lorna had visited her to collect on an inheritance. |
| hallucination of a non-existing person | major | Miss Laughton imagined she had countless non-existing relatives at her peculiar funeral get-together. |
| husband and wife | major | Frank and Lorna Branwell. |
| murder | major | Frank and Lorna planned to rob Miss Laughton of all her money and then kill her to minimize their chance of getting caught. Miss Laughton possibly intended the poison muffins for Frank and Lorna even though she said it was for the mice. |
| robbery | major | Frank and Lorna plotted to rob an eccentric old lady of her fortune. |
| breaking the law for personal advantage | minor | Lorna initially baulked at the idea of murdering Miss Laughton. |
| con artistry | minor | Frank and Lorna had various plans to infiltrate Miss Laughton's house, thought the plan changed into straightforward murder and robbery soon enough. |
| poison murder | minor | Miss Laughton dispatched a ravenously hungry Frank and Lorna by the simple expedient of some rat poison laced muffins. |
| what if I fell into the clutches of a person with malicious intent | minor | The eccentric Miss Laughton was oblivious to the fact that she was at the mercy of two would-be thieves/murderers. |