Disappearing Trick story
Bookie Walter Richmond develops a relationship with Laura Gild, the widow of former client Herbert Gild. Walter discovers that Herbert had faked his death to get away from Laura, and blackmails him for money. When Herbert confronts the pair with a gun, Walter is shot non-fatally, and Laura absconds from both men with the money. Directed by: Arthur Hiller. Story by: Victor Canning, Kathleen Hite.
12 total · 3 major · 9 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| femme fatale | major | Laura was a seductive young widow clearly experienced in wrapping men around her little finger and using them to her own ends. |
| infatuation | major | Walter and Laura were in the throws of love, or so it seemed. |
| the Casanova stereotype | major | Walter was a handsome man clearly accustomed to seducing young women and using them to his own ends. |
| blackmail | minor | Walter threatened to report Herbert over an insurance fraud unless Herbert coughed up $10,000. |
| boss and employee | minor | Walter's boss at the insurance company assigned Walter to check up on a suspicious claim. |
| bribery | minor | Herbert paid off the insurance company investigator Walter with $10,000 in exchange for Walter not revealing to his superiors that Herbert had committed insurance fraud by faking his own death. |
| gambling | minor | Herbert enjoyed betting on horse races. |
| greed for riches | minor | Laura wasn't satisfied with the $10,000 that Walter had extorted from Herbert, and wanted more. |
| husband and wife | minor | Laura discovered her supposedly deceased husband was alive and well toward to conclusion of the story. |
| insurance fraud | minor | It turned out that Herbert had committed some sort of insurance fraud in the process of faking his own death. |