Deathmate story
Fred Sheldon is a con artist who targets wealthy married women. His current con on Lisa Talbot is threatened by private detective Alvin Moss, who knows about his past. Fred murders Lisa's husband, but then learns that Moss was hired by Lisa, who used Fred to kill her husband. Directed by: Alan Crosland, Jr. Story by: James Causey, Bill S. Ballinger.
16 total · 7 major · 9 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| con artistry | major | The slick conman Ben thought he was well on his way to swindling yet another wealthy married woman out of a goodly sum with his needing money to save his goldmine, but he ended up being the pawn in her designs to knock off her husband. |
| extramarital affair | major | The beautiful heiress Lisa manipulated her lover, Ben, into doing in her elderly husband and taking the rap for it. |
| gold digging | major | Ben was after Lisa for her money. The young and beautiful Lisa hatched a plot to knock off her elderly husband and inherit his fortune. |
| husband and wife | major | Lisa suckered a slick conman into doing her dirty work by murdering her wealthy husband, Peter. |
| infatuation | major | Ben pretended to be head over heels in love with Lisa, and vice versa. |
| love triangle | major | Lisa and Ben were having an affair right under her husband Peter's nose. Ben and Peter were acquaintances of some sort. |
| spouse murder | major | Lisa suckered the slick conman Ben into murdering her husband, leaving her with a stupendous inheritance and Ben as the fall guy. |
| capital punishment | minor | In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock jested about the guillotine. |
| divorce | minor | According to Lisa, Peter laughed off her request to get a divorce. |
| gambling | minor | Peter lost some money to Ben playing cards. |