The Five-Forty-Eight story
Miss Dent was secretary to married Mr. Blake, but was fired on the day after they had a liaison. After weeks of being avoided, Miss Dent finally corners Mr. Blake at gunpoint and holds him hostage through his train commute in order to talk to him so that she can move on. Directed by: John Brahm. Story by: John Cheever, Charlotte Armstrong.
9 total · 6 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| boss and employee | major | Mr. Blake callously fired his secretary, Miss Dent, the day after their romantic liaison. The rest of the story followed her reaction to this happening. |
| getting fired from one's job | major | Miss Dent didn't take it very well when Mr. Blake callously fired her the day after their romantic liaison. |
| mental illness | major | Miss Dent had been hospitalized for eight months before getting her job, and once she lost it she became incapacitated for two weeks. She was clearly unstable, perhaps neurotic. |
| one night stand | major | The central problem in this story concerned the fall out from Mr. Blake and Miss Dent's one night stand. |
| the need for closure | major | Miss Dent held her former boss and lover, Mr. Blake, at gunpoint in order to get some things off her chest so that she could move on with her life. |
| unrequited love | major | Miss Dent was spurned by her love interest, Mr. Blake. |
| loneliness | minor | Miss Dent said that she was "used to being alone" and "didn't know anyone in New York", suggesting she was leading a lonely existence. |
| recreational activity | minor | In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock jested about being a model railroader, using life sized subject matter. |
| romantic infidelity | minor | It was strongly suggested that Mr. Blake, a married man, and Miss Dent had a one night stand. The rest of the story concerns Miss Dent's reaction to Mr. Blake avoiding and then firing her. |