Momentum story
Richard and his wife Beth are about to be kicked out of their home. Richard steals the money that his boss, Burroughs, owes him, and in the process accidentally kills him. Richard becomes paranoid, and he overreacts and is shot when a financier comes to collect his debt. While injured and possibly dying, Richard discovers that Beth met Burroughs the night before and got the money that was owed them. Directed by: Robert Stevens. Story by: Cornell Woolrich, Francis Cockrell.
8 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 2 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| great need vs. breaking the law | choice | Richard stole $450 in back wages from his boss because he was hard up for money. |
| being on the run from the law | major | After shooting a man dead, Richard set about to flee to Mexico with his wife. |
| burglary | major | Richard stole $450 in back wages that were due to him from his former boss. |
| husband and wife | major | Richard and Beth Paine. |
| ironic twist of fate | major | Richard shot dead his old boss in the process of taking $450 in back wages owed to him, but by an ironic twist of fate the boss had already happily supplied Richard's wife with the $450 owed him, so that Richard's crime was all for nothing. |
| murder | major | Richard accidentally shot his old boss dead in the process of pilfering $450 from the boss' money box. |
| facing being evicted from one's home | minor | Richard and Beth were about to be kicked out of their home. |
| facing job insecurity | minor | Richard was shown to be having a hard time finding employment in the story's opening sequence. |