The Pearl Necklace story
Wealthy 65-year-old Howard Rutherford proposes to 25-year-old Charlotte. Charlotte's current lover, Mark, makes Charlotte accept so they can live on Howard's fortune when he dies. However, Howard lives on for years, and Mark marries someone else and has a son. Howard finally dies at 90, and to Mark's dismay, Charlotte begins a new love affair with his son, Billy, who is 20 years old. Directed by: Don Weis. Story by: Peggy and Lou Shaw.
13 total · 8 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| choosing between lovers | major | Should Charlotte marry an old geezer with a bad ticker so she and her fiancé, Mark, could live off of her inheritance once the old guy kicked the bucket? Doing so would mean she have to be apart from her darling, Mark, for an indefinite length of time. |
| engaged couple | major | The happy lovers Charlotte and Mark broke off their engagement with the understanding that they would reunite once Charlotte secured an inheritance from her invalid suitor, Howard. |
| gold digging | major | Charlotte married the wealthy, 65-year-old, invalid Howard at her fiancé's behest so that they could live off of Howard's fortune once he kicked the bucket. |
| husband and wife | major | Charlotte spent 25 years married the wealthy, invalid Howard. |
| infatuation | major | Charlotte and Mark were initially in the throws of love. Billy fell in love with Charlotte in the end. |
| love vs. material gain | major | The heart of the story was Charlotte and Mark risking their own love for one another in order to gain an old man's fortune. |
| the desire for vengeance | major | Charlotte wanted to get her own back at Mark, and does so by getting involved with Mark's son. |
| young and old romance | major | The plot turns on the 25-year-old Charlotte marrying the wealthy, 65-year-old, invalid Howard so she can inherit his fortune once he kicked the bucket. After Howard's death, the now 50-year-old Charlotte began a new romance with a 20-year-old guy. |
| divination | minor | In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock feigned use a dowsing rod to seek the Fountain of Youth, and claimed to have found nothing but oil instead. |
| father and son | minor | The story ended with Mark being flabbergasted at the sight of his 20-year-old son in the embrace of Mark's own old flame, Charlotte. |