The Gentleman from America story
Sir Stephen Hurstwood offers a bet of $1,000 if Howard Latimer can stay the entire night in a supposedly haunted room of the Hurstwood mansion. Latimer is given a gun, one candle, one match, and a book that describes the mysterious beheading of Julia Hurstwood in the room. That night Latimer sees a ghostly headless figure and collapses in fright. The ghost is a trick set up by Hurstwood for money, but Latimer becomes insane from the experience. Directed by: Robert Stevens. Story by: Michael Arlen, Francis Cockrell.
9 total · 1 choice · 2 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| haunted house | choice | Howard spent a night in the supposedly haunted Hurstwood mansion. |
| ghost | major | The purported haunted house had a purported haunting ghost. |
| superstitiousness | major | Latimer tried to take advantage an apparently very superstitious Mr. Hurstwood by spending a night in his haunted mansion on a £1000 wager. |
| facing financial ruin | minor | Being hard up for cash, Sir Stephen Hurstwood first took to gambling on horse racing, before deciding to hoodwink Latimer out of £1000. |
| fear for one's life | minor | Latimer passed out in fear upon being spooked by the Hurstwood ghost. |
| gambling | minor | Some gentleman's club members were gambling on the outcome of a horse race. |
| mental illness | minor | We learn in the end that the spending of a night in the Hurstwood mansion had actually driven Latimer insane. |
| murder | minor | An insane Latimer believed that someone had murdered his sister and cut her head off. |
| sister and sister | minor | Geraldine and Julia. |