The $2,000,000 Defense story
Lloyd Ashley is accused of killing his wife Eve's lover, and offers his lawyer Mark Robeson 2 million dollars if he can get him an acquittal. Mark succeeds, but as soon as Ashley is released, he shoots Mark for also having an affair with Eve. Directed by: Norman Lloyd. Story by: Harold Q. Masur, William Fay.
9 total · 5 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| extramarital affair | major | Eve had perhaps had affairs with both Tom Warren and Mark. |
| legal occupation | major | The story centered around a lawyer trying to get his client acquitted of a murder charge. |
| murder | major | Lloyd was on trial for having killed his wife's lover. After being acquitted, he shot dead his lawyer in cold blood. |
| romantic jealousy | major | Lloyd had killed his wife's lover, and did so once again at the conclusion. |
| what it is like in a legal proceeding | major | Lloyd was tried for and ultimately acquitted of having murdered his wife's supposed lover. |
| husband and wife | minor | Lloyd and Eve mentioned each other. |
| intelligent animal | minor | In the intro and closing, Alfred Hitchcock feigned believing that the horse he was interacting with was intelligent. |
| medical occupation | minor | A physician made a house call to Mark's accidentally self-inflicted gunshot wound. |
| private investigator occupation | minor | Lloyd spoke about how he'd hired a private investigator to tail his cheating wife. |