The Jokester story
Practical joker Bradley pulls a prank on easily-confused morgue attendant Pop Henderson by pretending to be a corpse and "coming alive". When Bradley is later brought to the morgue presumed dead (but only actually paralyzed), Pop refuses to believe that Bradley's moaning is real and puts him inside the freezer. Directed by: Arthur Hiller. Story by: Robert Arthur, Bernard C. Schoenfeld.
14 total · 1 choice · 2 major · 11 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the boy who cried wolf moral | choice | The story culminates with Pop Henderson not taking seriously a paralyzed Mr. Bradley's moans for help on account that Mr. Bradley had previously pretended to be a corpse that had come to life. |
| coping with a problematic person | major | Everyone was fed up with the buffoonish practical joker Mr. Bradley. |
| practical joking | major | Mr. Bradley was pulling childish pranks on people left, right and center. |
| boyfriend and girlfriend | minor | Mike punched out Mr. Bradley for having played a practical joke on his girl, Millie. |
| celebrity worship | minor | In his monologue, Alfred Hitchcock jested about how his supposed musician brother had perished as crazed fans "snipped" of first his hair, and then more of him. |
| coping with a loved one being gravely ill | minor | Pop spoke repeatedly about how his wife was ill and had had numerous operations. |
| crime of passion | minor | Mike lost his temper and physically assaulted the insufferable practical joker Mr. Bradley after Mr. Bradley put pepper in the drink of Mike's girl, Millie. |
| gambling | minor | Mr. Bradley grabbed the pile of cash due to him after winning a hand of poker with a straight. |
| journalism | minor | Mr. Bradley was a newspaper reporter by trade. |
| law enforcement | minor | A police captain came to investigate a report that a morgue-stored body was actually alive. |