Arthur story
Chicken farmer Arthur Williams murders his ex-fiancée when she returns to him a year after leaving him for another man. Sgt. John Theron investigates Arthur, but is unable to find the body because Arthur has ground it up in his hammer mill into chicken feed. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock. Story by: Arthur Williams, James Cavanagh.
9 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The story follows Arthur as he narrates to the viewer how he got away with murdering his his ex-fiancée by the simple expedient of feeding her dead body to his chickens. |
| engaged couple | major | Arthur got fed up with his ex-fiancée, Helen, and murdered her. |
| law enforcement | major | Inspector Liebenberg and his men were investigating Arthur for the murder of his ex-fiancée. |
| lonewolf way of life | major | Arthur time and again came back to how much he liked to live alone and somewhat in seclusion from society. In fact, he murdered a woman in order to preserve this way of life. |
| murder | major | Arthur murdered his ex-fiancée, Helen, in cold blood and got away with it. |
| reclusiveness | major | Arthur time and again came back to how much he liked to live alone and somewhat in seclusion from society. In fact, he murdered a woman in order to preserve this way of life. |
| entrepreneurship | minor | In his monologue, Alfred Hitchcock explained that he was bringing some "fresh ideas" to the egg business. |
| gold digging | minor | Helen left Arthur for a man with more money, but then came crawling back to Arthur after her new man dumped her. She also told Arthur that she was effectively only into him for his money. |
| sloppy character vs. tidy character | minor | The sheer thought of Helen's disorderliness coming back into his life prompted Arthur to commit murder. |