O Youth and Beauty! story
Cash Bentley is a former champion hurdler who is bitter that his glory days have passed. Despite his wife Louise's protests and Cash's physical limitations, Cash keeps racing whenever he is taunted by others. One night, Cash gives Louise his gun and asks her to fire it so he can race one more time. Louise, unfamiliar with guns, accidentally shoots him. Directed by: Norman Lloyd. Story by: John Cheever, Halsted Welles.
12 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| coping with aging | choice | The middle aged, former champion hurdler Cash was bitter that his glory days were behind him. |
| coping with being washed up | major | The middle aged man Cash refused to own up to the fact that he was no longer a champion caliber hurdler. |
| husband and wife | major | Cash's inability to accept that he wasn't a young man anymore put a strain on his marriage to Louise. |
| obsession | major | Cash was so obsessed with hurdling that he severely injured himself, risked death, ruined his marriage, and was killed for it in the end. |
| reminiscence about one's youth | major | The middle aged man Cash pined for the days when he was a champion caliber hurdler. |
| sports | major | The story concerns a former champion hurdler who can't come to accept that his best days are behind him. In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock crowned himself with a laurel wreath in honor of having won a running race at the Olympics. |
| boyfriend and girlfriend | minor | The babysitter Cathy had her boyfriend George over while she took care of the Bentley's kid. |
| coping with being a laughing stock | minor | Cash's acquaintances at the club got him to run hurdles just to watch him make a fool of himself. |
| family financial problem | minor | Cash and Louise lacked the money to keep up on their club dues and pay to have their young son's teeth straightened. |
| medical occupation | minor | Cash's physician told him that he'd never hurdle again. |