The Kind Waitress story
Hotel waitress Thelma learns that she is in the will of her wealthy regular customer, Sara Mannerheim, who has stopped taking her medicine in expectation of death. Thelma's boyfriend Arthur suggests that they speed things up by slow-poisoning Sara with anatine, a leaf extract. After half a year of no change, Thelma strangles Sara to death one night in frustration. At the inquest, it is revealed that Sara's doctor prescribed anatine for her heart condition, and Thelma had been inadvertently keeping her alive. Directed by: Paul Henreid. Story by: Henry Slesar.
15 total · 8 major · 7 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| boyfriend and girlfriend | major | Thelma and her boyfriend Arthur conspired to knock off the elderly Mrs. Mannerheim to hasten Thelma receiving her inheritance. |
| coping with a terminal illness | major | The elderly Mrs. Mannerheim decided to stop taking her prescribed medication to hasten her death from a heart condition. |
| coping with aging | major | The elderly Mrs. Mannerheim spoke of how she felt old and was probably going to die soon. |
| greedy heir | major | Thelma became Mrs. Mannerheim's heir and the turbulent relationship between these two characters was at the center of the story. |
| ironic twist of fate | major | Thelma slipped anatine into Mrs. Mannerheim's tea in order to hasten her death. By an ironic twist of fate, anatine was precisely the medicine Mrs. Mannerheim had neglected to take and so the intended poison actually kept her alive. It is also suggested that Mrs. Mannerheim treated Thelma curtly for Thelma's own good, and so inadvertently provoked Thelma into becoming a murderess. |
| murder | major | Thelma strangled Mrs. Mannerheim to death one night in frustration and the story ended with an inquest recommending she be taken into custody. |
| poison murder | major | Thelma and her boyfriend Arthur conspired to slow-poison the elderly Mrs. Mannerheim by putting a little anatine in her tea every night. |
| the hospitality industry | major | Thelma was a Hotel waitress and the story portrayed her at work. |
| coping with a tough customer | minor | Mrs. Mannerheim was being difficult about the tea for which Thelma had not provided milk, we saw. |
| facing death | minor | Mrs. Mannerheim spoke about her feelings regarding her anticipated death from advanced age and disease. |